Philippines Attempts to Land on Tiexian Reef After China's Sovereignty Display, 6 Detained

After the China Coast Guard displayed the Chinese national flag, the Philippines forcibly landed on Tiexian Reef, and 6 people were detained on the spot for investigation. What calculations were behind this illegal landing by the Philippines on Tiexian Reef? And what countermeasures did the China Coast Guard take?

On April 27th, confirmed by China Coast Guard Bureau spokesperson Liu Dejun, six Filipino personnel disregarded China's warnings and dissuasion and illegally landed on Tiexian Reef for activities. The China Coast Guard then boarded the reef, detained these individuals, and checked their documents.

Why did the Philippines suddenly send people to Tiexian Reef to provoke?

A rather coincidental situation is that on April 24th, Chinese media just reported a set of photos showing the China Coast Guard carrying out reef inspections and collecting evidence of related illegal activities on Tiexian Reef. During this law enforcement operation to safeguard rights, the China Coast Guard not only took video evidence of the illegal Filipino activities on-site but also displayed the Chinese national flag on Tiexian Reef to assert sovereignty and cleaned up residual plastic bottles, wooden sticks, and other debris and garbage on the reef.

Through this single law enforcement action, China conveyed three clear signals to the outside world:

First, China has indisputable sovereignty over Tiexian Reef, and the China Coast Guard will use action to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Second, the Philippines has repeatedly carried out illegal activities on Tiexian Reef, infringing upon China's territorial sovereignty, and China will take resolute law enforcement actions against it. Third, the Philippines' illegal activities not only harm China's interests and undermine the stability of the South China Sea but also have a detrimental impact on the local environment, making China's law enforcement actions reasonable and compliant with regulations.

It is precisely against this backdrop that the Philippines chose to confront China head-on, sending six personnel to land on Tiexian Reef in an attempt to challenge China's sovereignty and send wrong signals to the outside world. However, they were promptly discovered and stopped by the China Coast Guard.

Furthermore, the Philippines has consistently attempted to use environmental issues to accuse China's law enforcement actions aimed at safeguarding sovereignty.

Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Tarriela once claimed that coral accumulations had appeared near Tiexian Reef and that they needed to lead marine scientists to Tiexian Reef to conduct scientific research "to determine whether the accumulations were naturally formed or caused by human intervention."

On January 24th of this year, the Philippines sent two ships in an attempt to illegally land on Tiexian Reef and collect sand samples, which was met with warnings and expulsion by China.

Of course, it is clear to discerning individuals that this move by the Philippines is merely a guise of scientific research, while its real intention is to deliberately infringe upon China's sovereignty in the South China Sea. What China is now doing is using irrefutable facts to dispel the Philippines' excuses. Their so-called "environmental scientific research activities" have instead left behind garbage all over the reef, harming the local environment. Ultimately, it was the China Coast Guard that carried out the cleanup. The truth of the matter is self-evident.

This time, the China Coast Guard's investigation and handling of the six Filipino personnel is just a warning. Although these individuals could indeed provide identification as scientific researchers, the Philippines' use of this opportunity to send official vessels to forcibly intrude into Tiexian Reef is an indisputable infringement upon China's sovereignty. Therefore, the China Coast Guard is fully justified in intercepting and expelling them.

If the Philippines continues to deliberately provoke incidents on Tiexian Reef, then China will inevitably take more stringent control measures in the future.