In an effort China has previously used to gain access to fishing waters elsewhere in the developing world, China is plying Filipino fishermen with an offer of aquaculture assistance and money to convince them to abandon contested fishing waters in the South China Sea.
Shortly after the visit to Beijing of Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte in October, the Chinese government dispatched Liu Xinzhong, the vice-head of the Fisheries Bureau at the Department of Agriculture, to meet with the Filipino fishermen.
Liu brought 14 officials with him on a trip that lasted almost a week. In addition to offering aquaculture technology, training in China and cash, Liu assured the Filipinos fishing at the Scarborough Shoal (known as Bajo de Masindoc in the Philippines) that they would no longer be harassed by Chinese navy vessels.
“We will help improve your incomes…Our governments are working to bury the hatchet, we are like brothers now,” Liu told the fishermen.
News of the detente was not widely reported in China. The only reports of the trip in mainland China emerged via the Philippines-based correspondent of the Chinese government-controlled Global Times newspaper, who quoted from reports in the Philippines-based Inquirer newspaper.
According to Leo Cuaresma, chair of the Federal Fishermen’s Association of Masinloc, Liu’s promises fell short, saying his offer was akin to offering “lollipops to children.” Notably, however, he didn’t say if the offer would be accepted or rejected.
In Global Times coverage of the spat between the Philippines and China, American interference has been blamed for recent tensions.
The recent “concrete act of benevolence from China” to Filipino fishermen may still be ruined by Americans, who “haven’t renounced their plans to upset things,” according to the Global Times. In the same article, an unnamed U.S. defense official was quoted as describing a need for joint U.S.-Filipino patrols of waters around the Scarborough and other parts of the South China Sea.
