The controversy over a tiny island in the South China Sea has intensified, making it the most serious standoff between China and the Philippines in the sea in recent years.

In early April, the Philippines sent a warship to harass 12 Chinese fishing vessels which sailed into the waters of Huangyan Island to shelter from bad weather.

According to media reports, the Philippines has also notified China on its readiness to raise the issue of the sovereignty of Huangyan Island to international arbitration. In addition, it tried to rename the island and remove the signs and monuments related to China.

Who is the troublemaker

Huangyan Island, a group of reefs and islets about 550 sea miles away from the Hainan Island in south China, has long provided a perfect shelter for fishing ships from nearby islands and the mainland of China.

"For many generations we have fished in this water," said Ke Weixiu, a fisherman and native from the port of Tanmen in Hainan.

However, since the 1990s, Chinese fishermen have repeatedly been harassed by Philippine warships.

According to the fishery department under the Ministry of Agriculture, four Chinese fishing boats were intercepted by the Philippine navy in the waters around the island from January to March in 1998 and 51 fishermen on board were detained for about six months.

In May 1999, a Chinese fishing boat was rammed by a Philippine warship and sunk, according to the ministry.

From 2000 to 2011, at least 32 fishing ships, with 439 fishermen on board, were chased, robbed or detained by the Philippine navy.

The latest event occurred in April. Xu Detan, captain of one of the 12 fishing ships harassed, has not recovered from the shocking encounter with the Philippine navy even three weeks after returning home.

"A Philippine warship blocked our entry to the lagoon where we docked our ships," Xu recalled. "We had no choice but to wait inside as they were armed."

On April 10, nine Philippine soldiers, on a inflatable, boarded Xu's ship with seven of them carrying rifles.

"They turned off the radio and satellite positioning system on my ship, searched the whole ship and took pictures while the 16 members of the crew, including me, were standing on the deck under the hot sun for four hours."

Two Chinese Marine Surveillance ships conducting routine patrols in the area later came to the fishermen's rescue and helped Xu and his colleagues return home safely.

"Usually a fishing trip will take 50 days but this time we were forced to cut it short to 25 days," he said.