MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines blamed Chinese fishermen on Monday for a massive loss of giant clams in a disputed shoal controlled by China’s coast guard in the South China Sea and urged an international inquiry into the amount of environmental damage in the area. The Philippine coast guard presented surveillance photographs of Chinese fishermen harvesting large numbers of giant clams for a number of years in a lagoon at Scarborough Shoal, but said signs of such activities stopped in March 2019. Parts of the surrounding coral appeared to be badly scarred, in what the coast guard said was apparently a futile search by the Chinese for more clams. The lagoon is a prominent fishing area which Filipinos call Bajo de Masinloc and the Chinese calll Huangyan Dao off the northwestern Philippines. “Those were the last remaining giant clams that we saw in Bajo de Masinloc,” Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said at a news conference. |
Small town thrives with winter gamesShenzhen Makes Efforts to Help Autistic Youths Integrate into Society, Chase DreamsChinese artistic swim sister duo bags backStudents Enjoy Science Classes at Primary School in China's XiangtanTeams Help Residents Resolve Marital, Family DisputesChina accelerates AI development to build AI innovation centerAcross China: 'Village CEOs' Transforming Rural Dreams into RealityGerman, Chinese Students Unite in Chinese Painting at Qingdao No. 9 High SchoolWondrous Xinjiang: Project Renovating Old Residences Revitalizes Ancient CityLetter from China: New quality productive forces mark Chinese path to future