Philippines Marines Apprehend Chinese Fishing Boat at Second Thomas Shoal

Aaron-Matthew Lariosa / USNI News

Philippine Marines deployed two small boats last week to escort a Chinese fishing boat that Manila claimed was illegally fishing at Second Thomas Shoal.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) stated that its troops “upheld environmental protection” at the disputed submerged reef Oct. 24 in the latest encounter between Manila and Beijing at the contested shoal.
“In adherence to established protocols, AFP personnel promptly escorted the unauthorized fishing boats out of the area and confiscated bottles containing suspected cyanide chemicals reportedly used for destructive fishing,” reads AFP the release.
A video released from the Philippines’ Western Naval Command shows the Marines approaching a Chinese fishing boat in the dark near BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57), a World War II-era landing ship tank grounded in 1999 by Manila to hold the maritime feature against other claimants. The Marines surrounded the Chinese fishermen and seized several items from the boat, including the alleged bottles containing cyanide.
After seizing the fishing gear, the Philippine small boats pulled the Chinese vessel away from Second Thomas Shoal with grappling hooks and lines. Philippine Navy spokesperson Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad told local reporters that “on a normal day, they (Chinese fishermen) could have been arrested,” but cited capacity concerns aboard Sierra Madre for the lack of arrests from the encounter.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines reiterates that its continuous presence and patrols in the West Philippine Sea are lawful and primarily focused on ensuring the safety of personnel, upholding territorial integrity, and advancing the protection and preservation of the marine environment within the country’s maritime domain,” reads the Philippine military statement.
Second Thomas Shoal became the focal point of a string of increasingly severe incidents between 2023 and 2024 amid Beijing’s efforts to enforce its South China Sea maritime claims against the Philippines. The two countries came to a provisional agreement over the shoal following an incident that saw a Philippine Navy SEAL lose his thumb during a clash between military and Coast Guard personnel last summer.
The incident demonstrated Beijing’s continued deployment and presence around Second Thomas Shoal following the June 17 incident, Ray Powell, director of the SeaLight Project at Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, told USNI News.

“Manila’s options to assert its own claim to the shoal have been limited by China’s capacity to swarm the area from its base at nearby Mischief Reef, so intercepting illegal fishing vessels is one of the few opportunities the Philippines has to push back,” Powell said.
Amid these incidents, Washington stepped up its support for Philippine forces with unmanned surface vessels, intelligence and training support. The existence of a forward-deployed American military task force dedicated to supporting Philippine forces in the South China Sea was also revealed last year. The task force’s name, Ayungin, is Manila’s name for the shoal.
While the agreement at Second Thomas Shoal has held, tensions between the two countries have been increasing throughout the South China Sea following an August collision between a People’s Liberation Army Navy destroyer and China Coast Guard cutter during their pursuit of a Philippine Coast Guard patrol boat. Shortly after the Scarborough incident, Chinese small boats equipped with heavy machine guns were spotted conducting drills in the shoal near Sierra Madre.