Philippines tells China it will not abandon shoal amid South China Sea standoff

By Reuters: The Philippines instructed China on Monday it will not abandon a disputed shoal within the South China Sea after it accused China’s coast guard of utilizing water cannons and “dangerous” strikes to forestall Manila from sending provides to its troops occupying the reef.

Likening the August 5 incident to a “David vs Goliath situation”, Jonathan Malaya, a senior Philippine National Security Council (NSC) official stated Beijing’s elevated presence on the Second Thomas Shoal won’t deter the Philippines’ resolve to guard its place there.

“We will never abandon Ayungin Shoal,” Malaya stated, utilizing its native title, as he dismissed China’s name for Manila to take away its warship from the atoll, which was deliberately grounded in 1999 to bolster the Philippines’ sovereignty claims.

“We will continue to resupply troops in the grounded vessel as long as it takes,” Malaya stated in a joint information convention with the navy, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and overseas ministry.

“It is our right to bring what is necessary to maintain the station and to be sure that our troops there are properly provisioned.”

China stated it had earlier instructed Manila to not ship ships to the shoal and to not ship “construction materials used for large-scale repair and reinforcement” to the warship after it realized of this latest provide plan, the Chinese coast guard stated in an announcement on Monday.

China’s Foreign Ministry stated the Philippines’ transfer violated China’s sovereignty and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties within the South China Sea. It stated the vessel was stopped in “accordance with the law”.

It detailed an announcement from the US State Department on the difficulty, which it stated attacked China’s authentic maritime rights safety and legislation enforcement actions and endorsed the Philippines’ “illegal provocative behavior, which China firmly opposes”.

Beijing claims sovereignty over virtually the whole South China Sea, an assertion rejected internationally, whereas Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines have varied claims to sure areas.

The Chinese Coast Guard’s use of water cannons on Saturday (August 5) was not the primary, because it additionally sprayed water at Manila’s boats on a mission to produce meals and water, for a handful of troops residing aboard the rusty warship in November 2021.

China’s newest actions, which the Philippine navy described as “excessive”, undermined efforts to strengthen belief between Manila and Beijing, and underlined the “dire need” for a code of conduct, the overseas ministry’s spokesperson stated.

Ties between the Philippines and China have grown tense underneath Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, with Manila pivoting again to its conventional ally, the US, which has expressed its help for Manila and accused Beijing of “threatening regional peace and stability”.

Marcos stated his nation had relayed its criticism to the Chinese Ambassador in Manila, whom the overseas ministry had summoned.

No one was harm throughout the August 5 incident on the shoal, however one of many two Philippine boats, which have been transporting provides, failed to finish its mission.