China says it has taken “control measures” against two Philippine vessels near the Sierra Madre, a warship grounded on the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, as tensions re-emerge in the contested waters of the South China Sea.
In a short statement on Friday morning, China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu accused the two Philippine ships deployed from the Sierra Madre of “deliberately engaging in provocative collisions” when approaching a Chinese coastguard vessel.
He did not specify when the confrontation took place, but said the Chinese side “implemented control measures” in response.
In a 33-second video released by the China Coast Guard, a Philippine crew member is seen filming the Chinese ship. One of the Philippine ships also crosses in front of the Chinese vessel.
“The China Coast Guard will continue to carry out rights protection and law enforcement activities in the waters near Renai Jiao in accordance with the law, resolutely safeguarding national sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” Gan said, using the Chinese name for Second Thomas Shoal, which is also known as Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines.
On Thursday, the Philippine military said it observed “an increase” in Chinese vessels, including coastguard vessels and militia ships, near Second Thomas Shoal on Wednesday.
Some of the coastguard vessels were equipped with heavy crew-served weapons and supported by 11 fast boats, one rotary aircraft and one drone, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said on social media, adding that it would continue to monitor and report the deployment of Chinese vessels.
In one of the most damaging clashes in recent years, one People’s Liberation Army Navy warship and a Chinese coastguard vessel appeared to collide in an encounter with a Philippine vessel near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea earlier this month. The Philippines, which released the video of the collision, said the Chinese coastguard ship was heavily damaged.
Beijing said at that time it had forced several Philippine vessels away from waters near Scarborough Shoal after they “ignored repeated warnings from the Chinese side and insistently intruded into the waterway”. It remains unclear whether there were casualties from the incident.
Second Thomas Shoal is a submerged feature in the Spratly Islands that is within the 200-nautical mile (370km) exclusive economic zone of the Philippines but is also claimed by China.
It has been one of the points of contention between the two countries since Manila deliberately grounded the BRP Sierra Madre, a crumbling World War II-era landing ship, on the outcrop in 1999 to assert the country’s territorial claims and housed a crew of Philippine marines in the warship.
Beijing has repeatedly urged the Philippines to remove the ship, and has since intercepted the Philippines’s resupply missions to the shoal, leading to a series of clashes in which a Philippine sailor lost a thumb in June last year.
To defuse tensions, diplomats from China and the Philippines met in July last year, with the two sides reaching a “temporary arrangement” for resupply missions, though no details were released.
Meanwhile, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has rejected claims by Beijing that his country promised to remove the Sierra Madre from the shoal. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
