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It has only been a couple of weeks since this happened as a Philippine patrol boat approached Scarborough Shoal.
Philippines ship getting blasted by water cannons of China Coast Guard vessel near Scarborough Shoal, South China Sea.
Chinese appear to be aiming at tricolor Philippine flag & ship’s radar systems. pic.twitter.com/gWdAcBzPPE— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 1, 2024
Now we seem to be heading for an even larger confrontation in the same area. A flotilla of 100 small fishing boats from the Philippines is making its way to Scarborough Shoal as part of an organized effort called Atin Ito which is Tagalog for “This is ours.” Their plan is to navigate to Scarborough Shoal as a kind of freedom of navigation protest at sea and then deploy some buoys with the phrase Atin Ito on them.
Ang mga matatapang na mangingisda, na hindi NO COMMENT sa usaping West Philippine Sea, ay tutungo sa Scarborough shoal where in 5-6 hours will face off Chinese presence.
THE GOAL?
Once in Scarborough Shoal, Philippines will place buoys that will bear the words “West Philippine… pic.twitter.com/PxW6ECQHKs— Informed PH (@informedph2) May 15, 2024
As you can see, most of these boats are quite small.
菲律宾民间活动人士5月15日乘船前往该国附近由中国控制的环礁“斯卡伯勒浅滩”（Scarborough Shoal，中国称黄岩岛），并对这条争议航道作出主权宣示。两周前，中国海警船在该水域向菲律宾公务船只发射水炮，导致菲船受损。详细：https://t.co/cTQGb3IosB pic.twitter.com/39HriMrrD9— 美国之音中文网 (@VOAChinese) May 15, 2024
China is responding by sending an even larger force of Coast Guard ships and what are known as maritime militia, i.e. unmarked “fishing boats” which are actually under the control of the Chinese military.
The Filipino group organizing the flotilla of about 100 small fishing boats, led by five slightly bigger ones, said it wanted to assert the Philippines’ claims to Scarborough Shoal, an atoll controlled by Beijing that is closer to Manila.
But even before the motley Philippine fleet set out on Wednesday morning, China deployed a formidable contingent of much bigger government-run ships to the area, an intimidating escalation of its frequent assertions of control over vast expanses of sea far from its mainland.
