On Thursday, the media in China announced that the majority of travel agencies in the country had suspended all trips to the Philippines because of an escalating exchange of verbal barbs regarding a disputed chain of islands in the South China Sea.
Authorities in China also issued to its citizens a safety warning about the Philippines due to anti-China protests that were planned for later in the week. Chinese officials also demanded that Philippine authorities ensure the safety of all Chinese nationals in the Philippines.
The problems began on April 10 when surveillance ships from China prevented a Philippine warship from arresting fishermen from China in the waters that are contested near the Scarborough Shoal, known in China as Huangyan. It is just a small part of a larger territorial dispute in the area. Parts of the islands in questions are also claimed by Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. Nearly the whole region is claimed by China. The area is thought to have large deposits of natural gas and oil.
These types of conflicts are not uncommon in the region. Back in the 1970s, arrests of fishermen from both Vietnam and China occurred and there were even naval battles that took place between the two countries. However, today there are increasing worries about greater conflicts as the world’s second largest economy tries to assert its influence and power to resources it claims.
Earlier in the week, the Foreign Ministry of China said it did not think the dispute would be resolved and warned it was going to respond to any new escalation by the Philippines.
