In recent years, the regime in Beijing has demonstratively advanced its positions in the waters outside China, which has led to strained relations with several of the neighboring countries.
In the South China Sea, Chinese military boats have blocked Philippine fishing waters for ten years, in defiance of a ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
53-year-old Christopher de Vera still steers his traditional fishing boat towards the waters outside the reef. But instead of sea bass in droves, he catches occasional yellowfin tuna.
– The fact that I can’t fish there makes me sad. Can you believe that only they are allowed to fish there, even though the reef is ours, he says.
He has been chased away several times by the Chinese patrol boats that have been guarding Scarborough Reef since 2012.
Chinese shrimp trawlers are the only ones allowed near Scarborough Reef. The few Filipino fishermen who occasionally, usually at night, have managed to get to the atoll claim that the coral reef is damaged and that there are not many fish left.
“We wouldn’t have a chance”
Both China and Taiwan claim the Philippine atoll, as well as the entire important South China Sea, one of the world’s most important waterways. The International Court of Justice in The Hague has determined that the atoll belongs to the Philippine economic zone, but despite this, the Chinese ships have refused to leave the area.
Mariel Villamonte was one of the Filipino fishermen chased away with water cannons when China suddenly took control of the area ten years ago.
– I don’t want to go there again, it’s difficult. Our boat is made of wood and their ship is made of steel. We wouldn’t have a chance, he says.