Philippines blames China for loss of giant clams in disputed shoal and urges environmental inquiry

Sub: IR

Sec: Places in news

Context:

The Philippines accused Chinese fishermen of causing significant damage to giant clams at the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which is controlled by China’s coast guard.

Scarborough Shoal:

Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc, Huangyan Island, Minzhu Jiao, and Panatag Shoal, consists of two skerries.
Located between Macclesfield Bank and Luzon, with Luzon 220 km away, in South China Sea.
Disputed territory claimed by the Philippines, China, and Taiwan.
The Philippines claims it through the 1734 Velarde map.
China and Taiwan claim it through the nine-dash line (eleven-dash line for Taiwan).
Related to broader South China Sea territorial disputes, including the Spratly Islands.

The previous standoff between the Philippines and China:

In 2012, a standoff occurred between the Philippines and China over illegal fishing activities.
The Philippines initiated an international case against China in 2013.
In 2016, The Hague’s arbitration court ruled China’s nine-dash line claim invalid, affirming the Philippines’ sovereign rights.
China rejected the ruling and increased its military presence at Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands.
The Tribunal’s ruling was supported by various nations, including Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

What is the South China Sea dispute?

Several countries claim various parts of the sea, and these claims often overlap.
In particular, China’s sweeping claims – which include sovereignty claims over land parcels and their adjacent waters – have angered competing claimants like Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
Other countries have staked claims on islands and various zones in the sea, such as the Paracels and the Spratlys.
Nine-dash line:
- China claims by far the largest portion of territory in an area demarcated by its so-called “nine-dash line”.
- The line comprises nine dashes, which extend hundreds of miles south and east from its most southerly province of Hainan.

About the South China Sea:

It is an arm of the western Pacific Ocean that borders the Southeast Asian mainland.
Boundaries: It is bordered by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Vietnam.
It is connected by the Taiwan Strait with the East China Sea and by the Luzon Strait with the Philippine Sea (both marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean).
The South China Sea and the East China Sea together form the China Sea.
The two major archipelagos are known as the Paracel Islands, controlled by China, and the Spratly Islands.
Climate: Weather in the sea is tropical and largely controlled by monsoons.
It is the second most used sea lane in the world. It is a significant trade route for crude oil from the Persian Gulf and Africa through the Strait of Malacca to Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.
Major Ports: Hong Kong, Singapore, and Kaohsiung in southern Taiwan.

What are clams?

Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs.
The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds.
Clams have two shells of equal size connected by two adductor muscles and have a powerful burrowing foot.
They live in both freshwater and marine environments; in salt water, they prefer to burrow down into the mud and the turbidity of the water required varies with species and location; the greatest diversity of these is in North America.
Giant clams are the largest living bivalve molluscs.