Filipino activists decide not to sail closer to disputed shoal, avoiding clash with Chinese ships

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — About 100 Filipino activists on wooden boats have decided not to sail closer to a fiercely disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Thursday to avoid a confrontation with dozens of Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships guarding the area.

Accompanied by journalists on four boats, the activists will distribute food packs and fuel to Filipino fishermen about 58 nautical miles (107 kilometers) southeast of Scarborough Shoal and then sail back home, Emman Hizon and other organizers said.

Chinese and Philippine coast guard and accompanying ships have had a series of increasingly hostile territorial faceoffs at Scarborough, which is surrounded by the Chinese coast guard, and at Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal since last year. The Chinese ships have used powerful water cannons and employed blocking and other dangerous maneuvers that led to minor collisions, injured several Filipino navy personnel and strained diplomatic ties.

The United States has repeatedly warned that it's obligated to defend the Philippines, its longtime treaty ally, if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack in the region, including in the busy South China Sea. That has sparked fears a conflict could involve Washington if the territorial disputes escalate out of control.

The activists and fishing community leaders, who belong to a nongovernment coalition called Atin Ito, Tagalog for This is Ours, provided aid to Filipino fishermen and floated symbolic territorial buoys on Wednesday on their way to Scarborough's outlying waters to assert Philippine sovereign rights over the atoll. But two Chinese coast guard ships started shadowing them Wednesday night, according to Hizon and the Philippine coast guard.

A group of 10 activists managed to evade the Chinese blockade by at least 46 ships in the outlying waters on Wednesday and distributed food and fuel to Filipinos fishing closer to the atoll. That was cited by the activists in declaring that their mission was a success.

“We managed to breach their illegal blockade, reaching the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc to support our fishers with essential supplies,” said Rafaela David, an activist leader who led the voyage to the disputed waters. “Mission accomplished.”

The Philippine coast guard deployed three patrol ships and a light plane on Wednesday to keep watch on the activists, who set off from western Zambales province. Dozens of journalists joined the three-day voyage.

In December, the group mounted an expedition to another disputed shoal but cut the trip short after being tailed by a Chinese ship.

China effectively seized Scarborough Shoal, a triangle-shaped atoll with a vast fishing lagoon ringed by mostly submerged coral outcrops, by surrounding it with its coast guard ships after a tense 2012 standoff with Philippine government ships.

Angered by China’s action, the Philippine government brought the territorial disputes to international arbitration in 2013 and largely won, with a tribunal in The Hague ruling three years later that China’s expansive claims based on historical grounds in the busy seaway were invalid under the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The ruling declared Scarborough Shoal a traditional fishing area for Chinese, Filipino and Vietnamese fishermen, but China refused to join the arbitration, rejected the ruling and continues to defy it.

Two weeks ago, Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships used water cannons on Philippine coast guard and fisheries ships patrolling Scarborough Shoal, damaging both ships.

The Philippines condemned the Chinese coast guard’s action at the shoal, which lies in Manila's internationally recognized exclusive economic zone. The Chinese coast guard said it took a “necessary measure” after the Philippine ships “violated China’s sovereignty.”

Aside from the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also been involved in the long-seething territorial disputes.

Indonesia has also had skirmishes with Chinese vessels in resource-rich waters stretching from its Natuna islands to the margins of the South China Sea, which Beijing has claimed virtually in its entirety.

The Indonesian navy has fired warning shots in the past and seized Chinese fishing boats it accused of encroaching into Indonesian waters.

In this photo provided by Atin-Ito/Akbayan Party, activists and crew members distribute fuel to fishermen as groups from a nongovernment coalition called Atin Ito, Tagalog for This is Ours, sailed at the South China Sea on Wednesday May 15, 2024. About 100 Filipino activists on wooden boats have decided not to sail closer to a fiercely disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Thursday to avoid a confrontation with dozens of Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships guarding the area. (Atin-Ito/Akbayan Party via AP)

In this photo provided by Atin-Ito/Akbayan Party, activists and crew members fish on a boat as groups from a nongovernment coalition called Atin Ito, Tagalog for This is Ours, sailed at the South China Sea on Thursday May 16, 2024. About 100 Filipino activists on wooden boats have decided not to sail closer to a fiercely disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Thursday to avoid a confrontation with dozens of Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships guarding the area. (Atin-Ito/Akbayan Party via AP)

In this photo provided by Atin-Ito/Akbayan Party, fishermen raise a Philippine flag on their boat as activists and volunteers from a nongovernment coalition called Atin Ito, Tagalog for This is Ours, sailed at the South China Sea on Thursday May 16, 2024. About 100 Filipino activists on wooden boats have decided not to sail closer to a fiercely disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Thursday to avoid a confrontation with dozens of Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships guarding the area. (Atin-Ito/Akbayan Party via AP)

In this photo provided by Atin-Ito/Akbayan Party, a fisherman raises a Philippine flag on his boat as activists and volunteers from a nongovernment coalition called Atin Ito, Tagalog for This is Ours, sailed at the South China Sea on Thursday May 16, 2024. About 100 Filipino activists on wooden boats have decided not to sail closer to a fiercely disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Thursday to avoid a confrontation with dozens of Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships guarding the area. (Atin-Ito/Akbayan Party via AP)

In this photo provided by Atin-Ito/Akbayan Party, a Chinese Coast Guard ship, background, passes the boats of activists and volunteers from a nongovernment coalition called Atin Ito, Tagalog for This is Ours, at the South China Sea on Thursday May 16, 2024. About 100 Filipino activists on wooden boats have decided not to sail closer to a fiercely disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Thursday to avoid a confrontation with dozens of Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships guarding the area. (Atin-Ito/Akbayan Party via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Outfielder Juan Soto, pitchers Corbin Burnes, Walker Buehler and Max Fried and first baseman Pete Alonso were among 136 players who became free agents Thursday morning.

Third baseman Alex Bregman, outfielder Anthony Santander and shortstop Willy Adames also went free.

There were 64 more players with pending option decisions who could become free agents by Monday, the fifth day after the World Series.

Teams and players can start discussing contract terms at 5:01 p.m. EST on Monday, after the deadline for teams to make $21.05 million qualifying offers to eligible free agents.

Pitcher Justin Verlander became a free agent after he failed to pitch 140 innings this year, the amount that would have triggered his ability to exercise a $35 million conditional player option. If he had exercised the option, the New York Mets would have been obligated to give an additional $17.5 million to Houston as part of last year's trade that sent the three-time Cy Young Award winner back to the Astros.

St. Louis declined options on three right-handed pitchers, Kyle Gibson ($12 million), Lance Lynn ($10 million) and Keynan Middleton ($6 million). Each gets a $1 million buyout.

Milwaukee said a $12 million mutual option had been declined on pitcher Wade Miley, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery last May.

Among those with pending club options are Atlanta designated hitter Marcell Ozuna ($16 million), and Yankees third baseman Anthony Rizzo ($17 million) and reliever Luke Weaver ($2.5 million).

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole can opt out of his contract but the team can void the opt out by adding a $36 million salary for 2029.

Those with player options include pitchers Blake Snell of San Francisco ($30 million, of which $15 million would be deferred), Nick Martinez of Cincinnati ($12 million), Sean Manaea of the New York Mets ($13.5 million), Jordan Montgomery of Arizona ($22.5 million), Nathan Eovaldi of Texas ($20 million) and Michael Wacha of Kansas City ($16 million), along with Chicago Cubs first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger ($27.5 million).

Snell and Flaherty are ineligible for the qualifying offers. A free agent can be made a qualifying offer only if he has been with the same team continuously since opening day and has never received a qualifying offer before.

Qualifying offers began after the 2012 season, and only 13 of 131 offers have been accepted.

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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler celebrates after the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in Game 5 to win the baseball World Series, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

New York Yankees' Juan Soto celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Cleveland Guardians during the 10th inning in Game 5 of the baseball AL Championship Series Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. The Yankees won 5-2 to advance to the World Series. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)