「もめ事」自粛を 中国、比に警告　南シナ海の障害物撤去で

【北京ＡＦＰ＝時事】南シナ海のフィリピンと中国の係争海域で、比沿岸警備隊が中国側が設置したとする障害物（ブイ）を撤去したと発表したことを受けて、中国外務省は２６日、比側に対し、「もめ事を起こす」のは自粛するよう警告した。（写真は南シナ海・スカボロー礁で、フィリピン沿岸警備隊員が浮遊式障害物のロープを切断する様子。同隊提供）
　問題となっているのは、比ルソン島の西２４０キロに位置し、中国側からは最も近い海南島から約９００キロ離れているスカボロー礁。中国側は黄岩島と呼んでいる。
　比側は、スカボロー礁の周辺海域で活動する自国漁民に定期的に物資を補給している。先週、同礁の入り口に長さ約３００メートルの障害物が設置されているのが見つかり、比沿岸警備隊が「大統領の指示に基づき」無事撤去したと発表した。ただし、すべての障害物が撤去されたのかどうかは不明。
　中国外務省の汪文斌報道官は、「中国は黄岩島の主権および海運上の利権を堅持する」と強調した上で、フィリピンに対し、「挑発したりもめ事を起こしたりするのは慎むよう助言する」と述べた。
　これを受けて、フィリピンのエドゥアルド・アニョ国家安全保障担当顧問は、障害物は「フィリピンの海運上の権利を侵害」しており、撤去は「権利の十分な範囲内」だと反論した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/09/27-15:51）

Beijing warned Manila on Tuesday not to stir up trouble after the Philippine Coast Guard said it removed a floating barrier at a disputed reef that was allegedly deployed by China to block Filipino fishermen from the area.
Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea has long been a source of tension between the countries. China seized the ring of reefs from the Philippines in 2012 and has since deployed patrol boats.
The latest spat was sparked by a 300-metre (328-yard) floating barrier that was found across the entrance of the shoal last week during a routine Philippine government resupply mission to fishermen plying the waters near the shoal.
The Philippines condemned the installation and its coast guard announced on Monday that it had successfully removed the barrier from the reef, which Manila calls Bajo de Masinloc, in a special operation ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos.
The Philippine Coast Guard specified on Tuesday they had cut a rope tethering the buoys to an anchor on the seabed, and hauled away the anchor, which allowed the line to drift.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin hit back on Tuesday, saying Beijing firmly upholds the sovereignty and maritime rights and interests of the Huangyan island, referring to the shoal by its Chinese name.
We advise the Philippines not to provoke or stir up trouble, Wang added.
- 'Well within rights' -
Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said his country was well within its rights to remove any barrier at the reef.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, despite a 2016 international court ruling that its stance has no legal basis.
Scarborough Shoal sits 240 kilometres (150 miles) west of the Philippines' main island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometres from the nearest major Chinese land mass of Hainan.
Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which China helped negotiate, countries have jurisdiction over the natural resources within about 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) of their shore.
The Philippine Coast Guard released a video on Monday showing a man wearing snorkelling gear using a knife to sever a rope attached to white buoys, while another showed an anchor being hauled from the water into a wooden outrigger boat.
After the rope was cut, the Chinese government removed the barrier, Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, told local media Tuesday.
The floating barrier had prevented fishing boats from entering the shoal's shallow waters where fish are more abundant.
Philippine officials previously accused the Chinese coast guard of installing the barrier before a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources resupply ship arrived at the shoal last Wednesday.
The Philippine foreign ministry said on Monday it would take all appropriate measures to protect our country's sovereignty and the livelihood of our fisherfolk, without elaborating.