the shallow waters of Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea, with Chinese coast guard speed boats in hot pursuit.
“I want to fish in there,” a defiant Satam, 54, told journalists as he stood barefoot on his light blue outrigger bearing a Superman “S” emblem. Since then, it has deployed coast guard and other vessels to block or restrict access to the fishing ground that has been tapped by generations of Filipinos.
Some of the fishing crews had been there for two weeks already using nets, lines and spears to catch tuna, grouper and red snapper. The instruction was repeated in English on a scrolling digital message board on one of the Chinese coast guard vessels. Some of the Filipino fishermen crowding around the BRP Bankaw in small outriggers to receive provisions climbed aboard to eat snacks and drink fresh water.