BOYET A. RABIS JR.

BTVTE AT 2A
REFLECTION PAPER ( FINAL PROJECT )

The low of the sea

One of the greatest and wealthiest resources that everyone wants is the Scarborough
Shoal. The two nations claiming the aforementioned land are the Philippines and China.
Everything will alter as a result of this territory because it may mark the beginning of the
building of the nation that will include Scarborough. The so-called “nine-dash line,” which
virtually encircles the entire South China Sea, was cited by China as the reason why they should
be granted the right to acquire the territory, whereas the Philippines argued that because the
territory is on their border, they should also be granted the right to Scarborough. Some Filipino
fisherman enter the aforementioned zone at their own risk, accepting any possible negative
outcomes.

One of the most significant fault lines of Chinese territorial aggressiveness in the South
China Sea is represented by Scarborough Shoal, a small, high-tide formation 140 miles west of
the Philippines. The stalemate over the disputed Scarborough Shoal between the People’s
Republic of China and the Republic of the Philippines is referred to as the Scarborough Shoal
standoff. Tensions started to build as the Philippine Navy made an attempt to apprehend eight
mainland Chinese fishing vessels close to the shoal. The Luzon Strait, a passageway to the
Pacific, is part of this gap. This vacuum would be filled and China would actually be able to
control the whole South China Sea by establishing a base at Scarborough Shoal.

Due to this, retired Supreme Court justice from the Chinese Coast Guard now controls
Filipino fishermen. Since China has taken control of the maritime feature from the Philippines,
Filipino fishermen are now forced to enter the lagoon illegally in order to fish in its abundantly
resource-rich waters after being chased from their usual fishing grounds. It has been noted that
there are no longer any Chinese Coast Guard vessels there, and that Filipino fishing boats are
no longer being intercepted, suggesting that Chinese Coast Guard appears to have stopped
preventing Filipino fishermen from entering the disputed Scarborough Shoal.