Diplomatic row erupts over Scarborough Shoal

Well, a major diplomatic row has erupted between the Philippines and China over the Scarborough Shoal, which is a submerged coral reef with a few small rocky outcroppings. It is Asia's most contested maritime features and a flashpoint for diplomatic flare-ups between Manila and Beijing over sovereignty and fishing rights. In the latest, China has issued a warning to the Philippines. Chinese Ambassador to Manila, Jing Guquan, says, and I quote, If we want to use force, we may easily win. Philippines foreign ministry called it poor choice of words that seem to convey a thinly veiled threat. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the statement by Chinese envoy is undiplomatic and added that he would like to understand what it really meant. It sounds very much to me like a threat and it is not a very diplomatic statement to be made. So we perhaps would like to understand what exactly it is that he means. So are you going to summon him, sir? I think that it deserves a discussion between the ambassador and myself. This latest diplomatic firestorm comes just one day after Philippine Defense Chief branded Beijing as a regional troublemaker. The backdrop to this escalating rhetoric, remember, is a longstanding territorial dispute. Beijing continues to claim almost the entire South China Sea, defying a major international ruling that found its assertion has absolutely no legal basis. Competing claims have resulted in repeated showdowns in and around the disputed area. Last week, Manila accused Chinese forces of actively obstructing the medical evacuation of an ailing Filipino soldier near a contested shoal. Chinese Defense Ministry, meanwhile, accused the Philippines of stirring up tensions and called Philippines a destroyer of peace and destabilizing factor in the South China Sea. Last month, the Philippine Defense Chief Gilberto Teodoro accused Beijing of bullying and coercion. In fact, he was handed a written note defending China's territorial claims right in the middle of a panel discussion, and that entire video went viral. The note stated that China's position on the South China Sea arbitration was clear, consistent, and firm. He shot back at Beijing and said that Beijing has no position. The memo claimed the arbitration violates fundamental principles of international law. Teodoro retorted that Beijing is violating international law. The public clash centers on a landmark 2016 ruling by an international tribunal in The Hague, which overwhelmingly rejected Beijing's expansive maritime claims, a decision China has consistently ignored.