Six Filipinos illegally board China's Tiexian Jiao despite warning

The China Coast Guard (CCG) spokesperson Liu Dejun said on Sunday that six Philippine personnel illegally boarded Tiexian Jiao in the South China Sea despite Chinese side's warnings and dissuasion. Following the move, the CCG officers boarded the Tiexian Jiao to verify and handle the situation in accordance with the law. 

China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands, including Tixian Jiao, and the adjacent waters, Liu said.

Liu noted that the Philippine side's actions violate China's territorial sovereignty, breach the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea. 

"We urge the Philippine side to immediately cease its infringements. The CCG will continue to carry out rights protection and law enforcement activities in China's jurisdictional waters in accordance with the law," according to Liu.

Since 2024, the Philippines has repeatedly attempted to dispatch vessels to waters near China's sovereign islands and reefs in the South China Sea "to monitor supposed artificial island creation activities."

The Global Times recently learned from a source close to the matter that a group of CCG officers landed on Tiexian Jiao to conduct on-reef inspection and video-recording of illegal activity in mid-April. Meanwhile, the CCG officers also displayed the Chinese national flag to assert sovereignty, cleaned up plastic bottles, wooden sticks, and other debris scattered across the reef flat.

A report released by the Ministry of Natural Resources on Friday indicates that the coverage areas of reef-building corals on the reef flats of Tiexian Jiao and Niu'e Jiao in the South China Sea have both decreased, and the reduction in the coverage area of Tiexian Jiao is significantly greater than that of Niu'e Jiao. Investigative evidence suggests that natural factors, such as the outbreak of crown-of-thorns starfish, along with human-induced environmental damage from illegal fishing activities by the Philippines, are key contributors to this decline.