The Philippines will continue to negotiate with China to prevent rising tensions in the South China Sea (SCS). This was stated by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
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“We continue to negotiate at the ministerial and departmental levels <…> Everything we can do, we do to maintain dialogue,” he said, calling on the Chinese side to exercise restraint.
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The Chinese Coast Guard has recently begun to increasingly use water cannons against Philippine vessels in the area of the Ayungin Shoal and Scarborough Reef in the South China Sea. Ship collisions also occur. On March 5, the Philippine Coast Guard said its ship was damaged after a collision with a Chinese coast guard ship in the South China Sea near a disputed reef, injuring four people. The Chinese side blamed the incident on the Philippines, saying the Philippine ship deliberately crashed into the Chinese ship in an unprofessional and dangerous manner.
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For several decades, the PRC has been arguing with some countries over the territorial ownership of individual islands in the South China Sea, on the shelf of which significant hydrocarbon reserves were discovered. First of all, we are talking about the Xisha Archipelago (Paracel Islands), the Nansha Islands (Spratlys) and Huangyan (Scarborough Reef), these disputes concern Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines.
