China accuses Philippines of harming ecosystems in shoal dispute News
Dmitry Domrin, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
China accuses Philippines of harming ecosystems in shoal dispute

China’s government released a report on Monday that claims a grounded Philippines warship at Second Thomas Shoal caused extensive damage to the shoal’s coral reef ecosystem. China claims a significant portion of the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, including the Second Thomas Shoal.

The report, authored by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources, claims that a grounded warship contaminated the reef with heavy metals, oils and active phosphates, resulting in the death of corals.

In 2016, a United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) tribunal determined that countries cannot claim sovereignty over the Second Thomas Shoal because it is only above the sea at low tide. However, the UNCLOS Tribunal did recognize that the shoal is within the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

An EEZ is defined in Article 57 of UNCLOS as an area extending 200 nautical miles from a state’s sovereign territory. Under Article 56, a state has full covering rights within an EEZ, including the right to “the establishment and use of artificial islands, installations and structures.” This article also deems that a state has jurisdiction for “the protection and preservation of the marine environment” within its EEZ.

The Philippines continues to station troops at a grounded warship at the shoal to enforce its sovereign rights, but China claims that such activity is an illegal violation of its national sovereignty.

Tensions between the two countries have been ongoing in the area. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration held that “China violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone” through the construction of islands, interference with Philippine economic activities and by not preventing Chinese vessels from fishing in the region.

Despite the 2016 ruling, China has continued to pursue its claims. China implemented new rules recently through China Coast Guard Order No. 3 which allow “Chinese guardsman to arrest foreigners for trespassing in the disputed South China Sea.”

Philippines Navy ships on a resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal were recently boarded by Chinese Coast Guard vessels, leaving a Philippine sailor injured in an attempt to block access to a grounded warship. The Chinese Coast Guard contested the Philippine account.

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