‘As long as we’re here, it’s ours’: the island fishing community on the frontline of South China Sea tensions

Photograph: Rebecca Ratcliffe/The Guardian. Retrieved from theguardian.com

From the sandy beaches of Thitu Island, blue waters stretch for as far as the eye can see. It feels like a tranquil paradise: there’s no noisy road traffic, air pollution or crowds. But Thitu is not a luxury retreat, it’s a tiny island in the remote Spratly chain and one of the world’s most fiercely contested maritime sites.

Thitu has been occupied by the Philippines since 1974 and is home to 387 civilians. However, China also claims the island and much of the surrounding South China Sea. Thitu and its people are on the frontline of an intensifying struggle against their superpower neighbour.

As is the case for many other features in the South China Sea, even the name of the island is controversial. The Philippines calls it Pag-asa Island (meaning “hope” in Tagalog), while the other claimants, China, Vietnam and Taiwan, use separate names. The name Thitu is used by international courts.

“We will not leave the island, no matter what happens,” says Larry Hugo, the head of the fisherfolk association on Thitu. Over the years he has been chased by Chinese vessels and has seen the number of Chinese boats plying the waters off Thitu grow in number, joined by aircraft and even drones overhead, he says. “It seems like Pag-asa is under surveillance. They are watching over what residents of Pag-asa Island are doing. They are more now than before.”

Residents have lived with the threat of China for years, but recently tensions in the South China Sea have escalated. Earlier this year, Chinese vessels in effect imposed a blockade to stop Philippine resupply missions from reaching troops based at Second Thomas Shoal, which lies 121 nautical miles away from Thitu, with the Philippines repeatedly accusing China of ramming its boats and blasting them with water cannon.