The waters of the South China Sea are becoming stormier than ever as Beijing and Manila feud over an elusive “gentlemen’s agreement” that China claims has kept the peace in a disputed area of the waterway for years.
Allegations over the deal, which China and former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte have said was a verbal agreement between the two countries over relocations from Manila to the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, have dramatically increased tensions in the South China Sea.
While China claims about 90% of the energy-rich waterway, which is also home to crucial trade routes, Manila insists that the Second Thomas Shoal falls within its exclusive economic zone – which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the coast – and pledged that “it will never leave the area.”
