LEGASPI, John Robert C.

BSA 701 Humanities

To China,
I wish you stop on seizing the Scarborough Shoal which is located 124 nautical miles
west of Zambales and is within the 200 nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone of the
Philippines while the Scarborough Shoal is 550 nautical miles from Hainan Islands, the closest
Chinese port1. By this fact, Scarborough Shoal is obviously a part of the Philippine territory.
Your Chinese government cant impose your own fishing ban in the West Philippine Sea,
where you called it as South China Sea. By the stated fact above, our fishermen dont need to ask
permission to fish in the area; our fishermen can fish freely in our territory. Your Chinese Coast
Guards cant just turn away any of the Philippine fishing boats sailing to the area using water
cannons.
Your Chinese fishermen are violating international commitments by illegally collecting
and transporting giant clams in the Scarborough Shoal lagoon. This is not the first time your
fishermen are violating the laws of the Philippines. Last year 2014, your Chinese fishermen were
found to be carrying pangolins, an endangered mammal2.
A deal mediated by the United States, your country and my country promised to
withdraw forces from the Scarborough Shoal until there will be a solution in the issue of
ownership. My country abides the agreement and withdrew. But your country did not comply
and maintained your presence in the Scarborough Shoal; your Chinese government even builds a
military camp on it3.
I hope this issue will be resolve by a decent negotiation. There is no need to start a war
between my country and your country.

References:
1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/china-the-philippines-and_b_1531623.html,
The World Post, July 20, 2012.
2. http://thediplomat.com/2015/02/philippines-accuses-china-of-ramming-boats-in-south-chinasea/, The Diplomat, February 5, 2015.
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Shoal_standoff, Wikipedia, May 6, 2015.