In the waters between China and the Philippines, there have been year-long disagreements over the ownership of the shoals that are spread out along the ocean region between these two nations. These reefs, which have primarily been used for fishing and transportation, have created high contention as both the Philippines and China have attempted to claim them as their own. Though the shoals have been largely disputed, both countries have frequently entered and exited the shoals for multitudes of reasons. Recently, tensions have heated up; on December 10th a Chinese Coast Guard ship was seen hosing down a smaller Filipino vessel with water cannons.
With this feud escalating, what will conflict mean for these two countries and the world as a whole? Well, that’s what we’re going to find out. Before we go any further, why are these shoals so important for either side? According to Reuters, these shoals provide key shipping lanes and fishing locations for both nations.
An estimated $3.4 trillion of commerce is transported through these waters. While not every shoal is disputed, we’ll be focusing on two specific ones, the Scarborough Shoal and the Second Thomas Shoal. There has already been legal action that has taken place which has given the Philippines the rights to the various shoals, but no sovereignty control over them.
This leads us to the actions China has taken. Starting in September, a Filipino expedition was sent out to the Scarborough Shoal where they discovered a 1000-foot-long buoy line, created by China, surrounding the shoal. Furthermore, at the Second Thomas Shoal, a Chinese ship was seen aiming a water cannon at a Filipino ship to keep them away. This incident was not the first time Filipino boats have faced pressure from Chinese ships. Since these are undisputed territories there should be no enclosures of any of the shoals since they are being shared by both the Philippines and China. But over the last few years, China has started enforcing Coast Guard enforcement around the shoals, discouraging the Philippines from coming close to the reefs. These events have, in so doing, angered Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who stated that they would not back down from China’s warnings.
Even though the rights to these shoals are disputed, you could make a case that the Philippines should have ownership over these reefs as they are way closer to the Philippines than to China. The Scarborough Shoal is 311 miles from the Philippines and 1657 miles from China, along with that the Second Thomas Shoal is 455 miles from the Philippines and 1946 miles from China. But more recently China has been moving in on these shoals, even making man-made islands for military occupation in the Spratly Islands. With US backup for the Philippines, this conflict could grow to a more global scale.
Only time will tell who controls the shoals.