{"id":126802,"date":"2021-05-29T04:54:25","date_gmt":"2021-05-29T04:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=126802"},"modified":"2021-05-29T04:54:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-29T04:54:25","slug":"philippines-protests-chinas-illegal-south-china-sea-presence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/philippines-protests-chinas-illegal-south-china-sea-presence\/","title":{"rendered":"Philippines protests China's 'illegal' South China Sea presence"},"content":{"rendered":"
MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines has protested China\u2019s continuing \u201cillegal presence and activities\u201d near an island in the South China Sea held by the Southeast Asian nation, the foreign ministry said on Saturday.<\/p> Manila lodged the diplomatic protest on Friday over the \u201cincessant deployment, prolonged presence, and illegal activities of Chinese maritime assets and fishing vessels\u201d in the vicinity of Thitu island.<\/p>\n It demanded its giant neighbour withdraw the vessels.<\/p>\n The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.<\/p>\n Tensions between Manila and Beijing have escalated over the months-long presence of hundreds of Chinese boats in the Philippines\u2019 200-mile exclusive economic zone. The Philippines says it believes the vessels were manned by militia, while Beijing has said they were fishing boats sheltering from bad weather.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Pag-asa Islands is an integral part of the Philippines over which it has sovereignty and jurisdiction,\u201d the foreign ministry said in a statement.<\/p>\n Thitu, known as Pag-asa in the Philippines, is 451 km (280 miles) from the mainland and is the biggest of the eight reefs, shoals and islands it occupies in the Spratly archipelago.<\/p>\n China has built a mini-city with runways, hangars and surface-to-air-missiles in the Subi Reef about 25 km (15 miles) from Thitu.<\/p>\n This was at least the 84th diplomatic protest the Philippines has filed against China since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016.<\/p>\n An international tribunal that year invalidated China\u2019s expansive claim in the South China Sea, where about $3 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have competing claims to various islands and features in the area.<\/p>\n Duterte shelved the favourable ruling and pursued a rapprochement with Beijing in exchange for pledges of billions of dollars of loans, aid and investment, much of which are pending.<\/p>\n