Manila lodged a diplomatic protest against Beijing over its coast guard’s confiscation of Philippine fishing gear from a disputed South China Sea shoal, the foreign office said, in its third bilateral complaint this year about Chinese actions in the waterway. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it objected to “radio challenges” sent by Chinese air controllers to Philippine planes patrolling the region as well as to the seizure of the equipment from Scarborough Shoal, a Chinese-occupied reef claimed by both countries. The shoal sits in the middle of a prime fishing ground and is within the Philippines exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The department, in a brief statement issued late Thursday, said it had “lodged today a diplomatic protest to China over the illegal confiscation by the Chinese Coast Guard of fish aggregating devices (payaos) of Filipino fishermen in Bajo de Masinloc in May.”
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