In the latest flare-up of their territorial dispute in the South China Sea, China has deployed an “excessive force” of 40 vessels, preventing two Philippine ships from delivering food and other supplies to Manila’s largest coast guard vessel in a disputed shoal, Philippine officials said on Tuesday.
China and the Philippines have blamed each other for Monday’s confrontation in Sabina Reef, the uninhabited atoll that both countries say has become the latest flashpoint in the Spratly Islands, the most hotly contested region of the sea passage that is a key global trade and security route.
China and the Philippines have each independently sent coast guard ships to Sabina in recent months because they suspect that the other side might try to take control of the fishing atoll and build structures there.
Hostilities between China and the Philippines have become particularly intense since last year, and Monday’s confrontation was the sixth reported by both sides on the high seas and in the air. The confrontations have raised fears of a wider conflict that could also involve the United States, the Philippines’ long-time treaty ally.
The Philippine Coast Guard said the “excessive force” of the Chinese Coast Guard and Navy, as well as 31 suspected militia vessels, illegally obstructed the delivery of food, including ice cream for the crew of the BRP Teresa Magbanua, as the Philippines observed National Heroes Day on Monday.
The Philippine Coast Guard said it remains “committed to our commitment to safeguard national interests and ensure the safety of our waters” and called on “the Chinese Coast Guard to abide by international law and stop using naval forces that could undermine mutual respect, a universally recognized basis for responsible and friendly relations among coast guards.”
In Beijing, the Chinese coast guard said it had taken control measures against two Philippine coast guard vessels that had “entered” waters near Sabina Shoal. In a statement, it said the Philippine vessels had escalated the situation by repeatedly approaching a Chinese coast guard vessel. The Chinese coast guard did not say what control measures it had taken.
China has rapidly expanded its military and increasingly asserted its territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually all of. Tensions have led to more frequent confrontations, most notably with the Philippines, although the long-standing territorial disputes also involve other claimants, including Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
Before Monday, Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels collided near Sabina, which is called Xianbin in Beijing and Escoda in Manila.
Sabina Shoal is located about 140 kilometers west of the Philippine province of Palawan, in the internationally recognized exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
Sabina is near Second Thomas Reef, another flashpoint where China has obstructed the delivery of supplies to Philippine forces aboard a long-grounded naval vessel, the BRP Sierra Madre. Last month, China and the Philippines agreed to prevent increasingly hostile confrontations at Second Thomas Reef, allowing a Philippine ship to bring food supplies aboard without fighting a week later.
