Eyewitness account at Ayungin Shoal: China force vs Philippine grit

Corroding steel walls of the grounded naval ship BRP Sierra Madre at the Ayungin shoal on June 21 one of the nine stations guarding the West Philippine Sea. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

AYUNGIN SHOAL, West Philippine Sea (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): China is closely watching this patch of reef, one of the maritime features occupied by the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea, as if ready to seize it at the earliest opportunity to establish firm control over that part of the South China Sea.

Its coast guard recently deployed at least two ships that sail around and guard Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, warning Filipino supply boats against carrying construction materials to repair the Philippine Navy’s BRP Sierra Madre, a decrepit World War II-vintage landing ship tank that serves as a military station here.