Remove ageing ship from reef, Philippines urged

Flashpoint: The grounded Philippine navy ship ‘BRP Sierra Madre’ where marines are stationed to assert Manila’s territorial claims. — AFP

China renewed calls for the Philippines to remove an ageing ship from a reef which Manila uses to press its stake in the Spratly Islands in defiance of Beijing’s claim to nearly the entire South China Sea.

The move comes after the Philippines at the weekend accused the China Coast Guard of firing water cannon against boats on a resupply mission to its garrison stationed on the grounded vessel.

The BRP Sierra Madre – deliberately grounded in the late 1990s in an effort to check the advance of China in the hotly contested waters – has long been a flashpoint between Manila and Beijing.

The Philippine military and coast guard accused the China Coast Guard of breaking international law by blocking and firing water cannon at the resupply mission, preventing one of the charter boats from reaching the shoal.

Beijing has defended its actions as “professional” and accused Manila of “illegal delivery of construction materials” to the grounded ship.

“The Philippine side has repeatedly made clear promises to tow away the warship illegally ‘stranded’ on the reef,” a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said yesterday.

“Twenty-four years have passed, the Philippine side has not only failed to tow away the warship, but also attempted to repair and reinforce it on a large scale to achieve permanent occupation of the Ren’ai Reef,” they added, using the Chinese term for the Second Thomas Shoal. — AFP