An uninhabited reef in the South China Sea has become the new flashpoint in the conflict between China and the Philippines. Germany also wants to show its presence in the region.
Seen from above, Sabina Shoal, a reef in the South China Sea, appears almost peaceful. A few light brown patches of land scattered in the deep blue water can be seen in aerial photographs of the region. The uninhabited reef is Part of the Spratlys, an island group off the west coast of the Philippine island of Palawan. And it is disputed between the Philippines, the People’s Republic of China and other neighboring countriesA few weeks ago, ships from the Chinese and Philippine coast guards clashed here for the first time, and since then the peace and quiet at Sabina Shoal has been over. What’s more, the reef, which is partially submerged by the sea, is increasingly becoming a new flashpoint in the conflict between the two countries, in which the USA and the EU have long since taken a position.
It began in early May. The office of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. accused the Chinese of building an “artificial island” on the reef, which lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Dozens of Chinese ships are present in the region to carry out “illegal activities,” Manila said. Several of its own ships had therefore been sent to the reef for observation purposes. Beijing then spoke of “pure rumors,” and said it was “indisputable” that China exercises sovereignty over the Spratly Islands.
South China Sea: Beijing and Manila squabble over each other with accusations
On August 19, there was a further escalation, although it is unclear what exactly happened. China claimed that two coast guard boats had entered the waters around Sabina Shoal, one of which had “intentionally” collided with a Chinese ship. A video released by the Chinese coast guard is said to support this version of events. Manila, on the other hand, said that Chinese boats had carried out “illegal and aggressive maneuvers” and damaged its own two ships. Photos from the Philippine coast guard show a large hole in the hull of one of the ships.
Since then, the reef, which the Chinese call Xianbin Jiao and the Philippines call Escoda Shoal, has remained unsettled. First, the Philippines accused the Chinese of shooting one of their boats with a water cannon. Then 40 Chinese boats, including three warships of the People’s Liberation Army, are said to have entered the waters around the reef.
Even if it is not always clear in individual cases who is responsible for the clashes and one person’s word contradicts another, China is increasingly aggressively trying to assert its claims in the region. An agreement reached between Beijing and Manila in July to prevent clashes in the South China Sea appears to have been ineffective after just a few weeks.
“China will never be fooled by the Philippines again”
In recent years, China and the Philippines have clashed primarily in two other places in the South China Sea, which the Philippines call the West Philippine Sea: at Scarborough Reef off the west coast of the Philippine main island of Luzon, where Beijing has maintained a permanent presence since 2012, and at Second Thomas Shoal, which borders directly on Sabina Shoal. Since 1999, Filipino soldiers have been waiting there on a shipwreck from World War II that was deliberately run aground. Both sides, China and the Philippines, now apparently want to avoid creating facts at Sabina Shoal that would allow the other to establish a permanent presence there.
“These recent developments have revealed the Philippines’ true intentions, which are to establish a long-term presence and occupy the reef,” China’s state news agency wrote Xinhua in a recent commentary: “China will never be fooled by the Philippines again.”
Beijing claims around 90 percent of the South China Sea for itself, including areas that are hundreds of kilometers away from the coasts of the People’s Republic, but often lie directly off the coasts
of other neighboring countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam or Malaysia. China has been developing several of the islands for years, filling in land and building runways or jetties. Beijing has persistently ignored a 2016 court ruling that rejected China’s claims to the Spratly Islands, instead emphasizing alleged historical rights to the region.
Expert: China’s head of state wants to “satisfy his hunger for power”
“In the end, Beijing is trying to turn the international sea into a national water,” says Alexander Görlach, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. “This can only succeed if the islands in the West Philippine Sea are Chinese. That is why Beijing is trying to declare as many of them as possible ‘disputed’ in order to incorporate them bit by bit.” If China gets its way, there would be an “acute danger of war with the United States and its NATO partners in the free world,” Görlach told our editorial team.
It is estimated that a third of world trade and around 40 percent of European foreign trade are conducted via the South China Sea. Whoever controls the region therefore also controls the main artery of the global economy. Experts also suspect that there are large oil and gas reserves in the area.
In the conflict with China, the USA has sided with its former colony, the Philippines. The EU also recently condemned the “dangerous actions” of the Chinese at Sabina Shoal, which German Armed Forces wants to send a frigate through the South China Sea soon. For Görlach, this is the right signal to stop the Chinese ambitions. Because China’s head of state Xi Jinping is simply interested in “satisfying his hunger for power” in the region.
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