China's monster ship provokes Philippines in the South China Sea!

China's monster ship provokes Philippines in the South China Sea!

In a worrying incident in the South China Sea, the Filipino government has blamed China for aggressive provocations. The trigger is a huge ship of the Chinese coast guard, which was spotted on January 4 in the waters on the island of Capones, near the northwestern province of Zambal. This vehicle, known as the "monster ship", causes immense concern in the Philippines because it could intimidate the fishermen on site. Jonathan Malaya, Vice Presentation of the National Security Council, accused China of "pushing" the Philippines "to the wall" and announcing that one would not be intimidated by the threat.

The Filipino coast guard has already asked the ship to leave the region, but the “monster ship” continues to refuse. In response to the allegations, China's foreign office spokesman Guo Jiakun described the Philippines views as unfounded and asked the Manila government to refrain from provocation. This argument is not new; The Scarborough reef, which is only 240 kilometers from Capones, was already at the center of a military conflict between the two countries in 2012. Beijing ignored a judgment issued by the permanent arbitration in the Hague in 2016 that China's expansionary area claims in the South China Sea rejected, and continues to consider the area as its own possession. Other countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, support the Philippines' claims against Chinese superiority, as the reporting from Dagens.com shows.

The situation is tense because the raw material -rich South China Sea is considered a significant trade route and at the same time always moves into the focus of military conflicts, which can end in collisions or aggressive measures such as the use of water cannons. The Philippines and China are again faced with a critical phase of their complex relationships in the context of these dangerous provocations that endanger the stability in the region.