The Philippines denounces China for ‘unprovoked acts of coercion’ to block the resupply mission. To scuttle a resupply operation in the South China Sea, the Philippines on Friday denounced China’s coast guard for “unprovoked acts of coercion and dangerous maneuvers,” which included the firing of a water cannon against one of its vessels.
The Philippines said that in addition to “putting the lives of our people at risk,” China’s actions “put into question and significant doubt the sincerity of its calls for peaceful dialogue.”
Regular resupply missions assist Philippine troops stationed on Second Thomas Shoal, a highly contested shoal in the South China Sea that Manila refers to as Ayungin and that China refers to as Renai Reef. The troops are stationed in a purposefully stranded, decrepit vessel.
Claiming practically all of the South China Sea, including the Second Thomas Shoal, China has sent hundreds of patrol boats there, along with what Manila calls “Chinese maritime militia,” which it said were responsible for the most recent effort to thwart the resupply operation.
At a routine news conference on Friday, Wang Wenbin, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, stated that the ministry is against any measures that compromise China’s interests and sovereignty and that it has made severe objections to the Philippine embassy.
China’s coast guard ordered the Philippines to cease encroaching on Beijing’s territory, claiming that three coast guard ships and two small Philippine cargo ships entered the seas without the Chinese government’s consent.
It made temporary special arrangements for the Philippine side to convey food and other daily essentials, and it declared that its actions were legal. Even as the Chinese Coast Guard’s inflatable boats inside the shoal were “subjected to extremely reckless and dangerous harassment at close proximity” to the Philippines’ boats, the Philippine administration declared the resupply operation accomplished.
China has grown increasingly forceful in pursuing its maritime claims, upsetting rival claimants and other nations operating in the South China Sea, including the United Nations and Japan. For years, Manila and Beijing have been entangled in intermittent clashes at the Second Thomas Shoal.
During his visit to Manila on Saturday, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated that his nation, the Philippines, and the US were working together to safeguard the South China Sea’s independence.
The Philippines announced on Thursday that it would be purchasing five 97-meter (318.24-foot) multirole reaction vessels to bolster the Coast Guard’s capabilities. Loans from Japan for official development assistance would cover the project’s cost of 29.3 billion pesos ($523.96 million).
Beijing’s broad claims lack legal support, according to a 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague decision that received backing from Japan and Washington, giving the Philippines a historic legal victory. According to the judgment, the shoal is inside the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. China’s deployment of water cannons came after a string of events in the South China Sea, which included two Manila ships and Chinese ships colliding on October 22. The Philippines accused the China Coast Guard of “intentionally” hitting its boats.
