OPINION:
The Philippines released surveillance photos at an Asian regional summit showing Chinese construction barges and cranes at Scarborough Shoal, a disputed area of the South China Sea. The release was an apparent attempt to bring bad publicity to China at the event and highlight their continued aggression in the area that has alarmed its neighbors.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte plans to ask Premier Li Keqiang at the summit in the Laotian capital whether the vessels were on another island-making mission on the Scarborough Shoal. China has built seven such islands in the disputed, resource-rich sea, alarming neighbors and rival claimants. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China hadn’t done anything to alter the circumstances in the waters surrounding the shoal, reports Associated Press.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry reacted angrily, “What I can tell you is that the situation in waters near Huangyan Island remains unchanged and China hasn’t made any new moves,” Hua said in Beijing, using the shoal’s Chinese name. “We should be highly alert against the mischief-making intentions of people who spread such groundless information in such situations.”
The Philippines will lodge a formal protest if China confirms ownership of the vessels. This comes on the heels of a United Nations tribunal ruling against China in the area. The U.S. military is also concerned about China attempting to militarize the area.
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