China and Philippines yet again embroils in a heated exchange over a reef in the South China Sea. Philippines recently called out China for its “reckless” claim in a report issued by its national television broadcaster CCTV (China Central Television). In the report, China allegedly claimed to have already taken over the disputed reef in mid-April, inevitably drawing flak from Philippines.
The bone of contention between the two countries is the Tiexian Reef a.k.a. Sandy Cay , a part of the Spartly Islands in the South China Sea. Spartly islands , made of small islands , is one of the two artificially built islands. This island becomes crucial for Philippines as it has a military base.
Chinese Coast Guard spokesperson Liu Dejun reported that six Filipino personnel had “illegally boarded” the reef and were quickly “dealt with”. China claimed to have warned and dissuaded Philippines against any advances in the reef. Liu urged Philippines to stop breaching its territory and thereby breaching its territorial sovereignty and integrity.
Manila categorically refuted both these claims made by China. Reports suggest that this recent stunt pulled by China claiming to have taken over the contested reef in the widely disputed South China Sea, point to the tactic China very often invokes- ‘A lie told a thousand times becomes the truth’
In a bid to assert itself, China released a photo featuring four officials from the China Coast Guard standing on the reef with their national flag, pronouncing their sovereignty. Reacting to this, the Philippines counterpart presented a picture of a day before featuring Filipino sailors waving their national flag on the same reef.
The reef becomes importantly as both the US and Philippines engage in annual joint naval exercises called “Balikatan”. Reportedly, after the exercise last week, movement was witnessed in the Philippine’s water.
This isn’t the first time , China and Philippines had dismissed each other’s claims. Earlier both found themselves in a legal battle when in 2016 , Philippines dragged China to the doors of Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). The PCA pronounced a ruling in favour of the complainant, junking China’s historical claims over the South China Sea. Beijing advocates a theory ‘Nine-Dash Line’ to lay claims on virtually the entirety of the disputed South China Sea, which shares a coastline with major East and South East Asian countries. This international ruling failed China to keep it from affirming its military and strategic muscle in this waterway.
