Tit-for-tat response continues

Making way: A coastguard personnel cutting a rope attached to a floating barrier blocking the entrance to Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea. — AFP

Filipino fisherman Arnel Satam guns the motor of his tiny wooden boat as he makes a dash for the shallow waters of Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea, with Chinese coastguard speedboats in hot pursuit.

In a high-sea chase lasting several minutes, Satam tries in vain to outrun the faster boats in the hope of slipping inside the ring of reefs controlled by China, where fish are more abundant.