The Chinese built floating barriers near a disputed reef in the South China Sea, and the Philippine Coast Guard promised to “do whatever it takes” to remove them.
The comments were made after it was determined during a Thursday aerial examination of Scarborough Shoal that a 300 meter (328 yard) barrier that sparked the most recent diplomatic dispute between Beijing and Manila had been removed.
As a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources plane flew over the Chinese-controlled reef, access to its shallow waters was made available to the AFP journalists on board.
The floating barrier was discovered last week while the Philippine government was conducting a routine resupply trip for Filipino fisherman.
In a special operation ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos, Philippine Coast Guard personnel cut a rope tethering the barrier to an anchor, allowing it to drift.
“In the next coming months, if ever that barrier will once again be in place, the Philippine Coast Guard will do whatever it takes for us to remove the barrier,” coast guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Jay Tarriela told reporters, as he sat next to the anchor seized during the mission.
In his first public remarks on the incident, Marcos said Friday that his government was “not looking for trouble”.
He insisted, though, that it will “continue to defend the Philippines, the maritime territory of the Philippines, and the rights of our fishermen to ply their trade in the areas where they have been fishing for hundreds of years.”
China sent a warning to the Philippines earlier this week not to “stir up trouble” over the incident that sparked a verbal exchange between the two nations.
According to the China Coast Guard, the buoy line was put in place following the Philippine vessel’s “intrusion into the lagoon” and was taken down on Saturday.
Spokesman Gan Yu stated in a statement that “the on-site operation was professional and standard, legitimate, and rational.”
