July 26, 2024

BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Recently, China released two reports on the ecology and environment of the South China Sea, analyzing the state of the Ren'ai Jiao and Huangyan Dao ecosystems. There is no doubt that China has the right to conduct environmental investigations and take corresponding measures, whether it concerns safeguarding its territorial sovereignty or protecting its marine environment.

According to the reports, the environmental quality of the sea area of Huangyan Dao is excellent, and the coral reef ecosystem is healthy. However, the reef ecosystem of Ren'ai Jiao has been severely damaged, due to the illegal grounding of a Philippine warship and the associated human activities.

On May 9, 1999, the Philippines sent BRP Sierra Madre, a military vessel, to intrude into China's Ren'ai Jiao and illegally ran it aground on the pretext of "technical difficulties." China immediately made solemn representations to the Philippines, demanding the immediate removal of that vessel. But the Philippines claimed that the vessel could not be towed away for "lack of parts".

Despite Manila's myriad promises to tow away the vessel, it has taken no action. The vessel remains at Ren'ai Jiao, regularly resupplied by Philippine vessels and aircraft. Personnel on board have been observed burning waste, dumping sewage into the sea, fishing, reinforcing the ship, and painting its hull. Since 2017, the Philippine side has constantly built temporary facilities on the vessel, covering about 90 percent of its deck. As of now, the vessel's hull has severely deteriorated, with extensive rust damage visible.

Based on field work and analysis, it has been demonstrated that the illegally grounded Philippine military vessel has gravely damaged the diversity, stability, and sustainability of the local coral reef ecosystem.

First, the vessel's illegal grounding has caused serious damage to the coral reef ecosystem, substantially inhibiting the growth and recovery of coral in the surrounding area.

Second, the heavy metal precipitation caused by the military vessel's corrosion, along with the discharge of garbage and sewage by personnel on board, has caused lasting harm to the corals' health.

Third, the health of the coral reef ecosystem has been severely compromised by fishing waste, including nets and lines discarded by Philippine fishing boats and by the personnel on board the Philippine military vessel.

Fourth, ongoing fishing activities by Philippine fishing boats and personnel on board military vessel in adjacent areas have significantly reduced the populations of economically important organisms. All these pose severe threats to the ecosystem integrity in the Ren'ai Jiao area.

Following the reports released by China, the response of the Philippines was to shift blame, deflect attention and make baseless accusations against China, showing their desperation after being caught red-handed in their destructive actions by scientific evidence.

Faced with China's authoritative and credible reports, the Philippines is unable to defend itself and can only resort to mudslinging. The Philippine government cannot even provide a single example in its statement of how it has safely disposed of the daily accumulation of waste and garbage from its personnel on the vessel on Ren'ai Jiao in the past 25 years.

The Philippines is setting a bad example in marine environmental protection. An article on the website of the Asia Foundation says that about 64 percent of Southeast Asia's fishery resource base is at medium to high risk of overfishing. The Philippines is one of the most problematic countries: in addition to overfishing, destructive fishing practices such as using sodium cyanide to stun fish, using explosives or grenades to create explosions in the sea to kill fish, and using bottom trawling nets to drag seagrass beds or coral reefs have also gravely endangered the marine biodiversity.

A report from the University of Oxford also shows that the Philippines contributes one-third to the world's 80 percent of ocean plastic from Asian rivers. Interpol's "30 Days at Sea" report on marine pollution crimes reveals the Philippines' serious case of polluting the marine environment by discharging pig farm waste into the ocean.

Since 1999, China has implemented a summer fishing moratorium in the South China Sea, setting a fishing ban period and a fishing ban zone, which has played an irreplaceable and important role in maintaining the marine environment in the South China Sea. China has also carried out a number of coral reef ecological restoration projects in the South China Sea and has successfully planted and restored about 300,000 square meters of coral reefs so far.

In the past few months, the Philippines has repeatedly threatened to file another international arbitration against China over marine environmental issues. What the Philippines really cares about is not the marine environment, but its illicit gains in the South China Sea.

Clearly, the Philippines should be held accountable for the environmental damage in the South China Sea. To prevent further damage, Manila should first tow away the warship to restore Ren'ai Jiao's state of hosting zero personnel and facilities as well as its ecosystem. Manila should also rectify its fishing and polluting activities to contribute to preserving the marine eco-environment in the South China Sea. Enditem

Ding Duo is associate research fellow of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies

Link:https://english.news.cn/20240726/afba61ff252e41b3af57756581400778/c.html#:~:text=As%20of%20now%2C%20the%20vessel's,the%20local%20coral%20reef%20ecosystem.