CNN reported this morning on some less-than-diplomatic language from the Philippines:
The Philippine foreign minister on Monday demanded in an expletive-laced Twitter message that China’s vessels get out of disputed waters, the latest exchange in a war of words with Beijing over the South China Sea.
The comments by Teodoro Locsin, known for blunt remarks, follow Manila’s protests for what it calls the “illegal” presence of hundreds of Chinese boats inside the Philippines’ 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
“China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see… O…GET THE F**K OUT,” Locsin tweeted on his personal account.”
What are you doing to our friendship? You. Not us. We’re trying. You. You’re like an ugly oaf forcing your attentions on a handsome guy who wants to be a friend; not to father a Chinese province …” Locsin said.
China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chinese officials have previously said the vessels at the disputed Whitsun Reef were fishing boats taking refuge from rough seas.
China’s vessels have been moored at Whitsun Reef, part of the Spratly Islands, “taking refuge from rough seas” since March. Britain’s Telegraph reports that China’s Houbei Type 22 missile-armed fast attack crafts are among the fishing vessels (sign-in req’d):
To expand its territorial claims, it has deployed its navy, coastguard and its maritime militia – dubbed China’s “Little Blue Men,” in reference to the unmarked Russian “Little Green Men” soldiers who appeared in Crimea shortly before President Vladimir Putin annexed the peninsula.
The militia is embedded into China’s fishing fleet to intimidate and squeeze out rival South East Asian claimants to the waters.
The United States is challenging China’s ambitions with its own patrols, and this week the head of the Navy SEALs said it would pivot away from anti-terror operations in deserts and mountains to focus on “maritime” threats posed by Russia and China.
The Philippines alleged on or about April 1 that China is constructing illegal structures there in waters the Philippines claims:
The country’s military said the structures were spotted during maritime patrols conducted on Tuesday, but it did not give the precise location of the structures or more details as to who erected them or as to their construction, saying only their presence violated international law.
China has been accused of using its vast fishing fleet to help assert Beijing’s territorial claims throughout the 1.3 million square mile South China Sea, though China has dismissed accusations it operates an irregular naval force, or maritime militia, as groundless.
The Laws of the Sea gives the Philippines indisputable and exclusive rights over the area. These constructions and other activities, economic or otherwise, are prejudicial to peace, good order, and security of our territorial waters,” Philippines Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said in a statement. “These structures are illegal,” Sobejana added.
China has been making moves to claim most of the disputed South China Sea as its own for a much of the last decade. Half a dozen countries including Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Vietnam have claims to parts. Gaius Publius grabbed my attention in 2015 with a post on the strategic choke-point of the Strait of Malacca that lies at the southern end of the South China Sea. Dubbed the Great Wall of Sand, China began dredging in the Spratly Islands, creating manmade ones, and establishing bases there in about 2014. Its neighbors are not happy, particularly the Philippines and its fishermen.
An international tribunal in The Hague ruled in 2016 that China has no legal claim to the bulk of the South China Sea. Naturally, China rejected that ruling.
The U.S. Navy has conducted freedom of navigation trips through waters China now claims it owns to remind China of the disputed nature of those claims. CNN reported that beginning this month Britain will send a flotilla to the area this summer to show the flag A U.S. guided missile destroyer will join them.
What remains unclear is whether or not the fleet will challenge China by transiting the South China Sea.