The Philippines has announced the successful delivery of fresh supplies to a remote outpost it claims within the South China Sea, defying Beijing's attempts to obstruct the mission, BBC reports.
The Philippine government asserts that Chinese efforts to "block, harass, and interfere with the supply mission" were thwarted. Just two weeks prior, Chinese ships utilized water cannons to halt a Philippine supply operation to the Second Thomas Shoal in the contested Spratly Islands, preventing the delivery to Filipino troops stationed there.
Manila employs an aging naval vessel with a small contingent of troops to maintain its claim on the region. The Chinese embassy in Manila has yet to respond to requests for comment. China asserts dominion over nearly the entire South China Sea, including the Spratlys, to which the Philippines also lays partial claim to. The waters in question are renowned for their abundant fishing resources and are believed to harbor substantial reserves of oil and gas.
Supply missions to the shoal have recurrently sparked tensions between the two claimants. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan likewise assert partial sovereignty over parts of the sea, through which around $3.37 trillion, or 21% of global trade transits annually. On August 22, two ships accompanied by two coast guard vessels effectively delivered fresh provisions to Second Thomas Shoal, according to the Philippines' National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea.
Manila designates the section of the South China Sea within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as the West Philippine Sea. The task force affirmed that supply missions to the shoal will continue as a regular occurrence. The United States, the Philippines' treaty ally, has expressed concerns about Beijing's perceived "dangerous maneuvers" within the South China Sea.
Apart from using water cannons, Chinese ships reportedly employed "military-grade lasers" to temporarily impair the vision of Philippine vessel crews. China's repeated efforts to obstruct supply missions to Second Thomas Shoal were integral to the Philippines' successful case before the UN-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2014. The tribunal ruled that China's claim, based on historical maps, lacked foundation. However, Beijing has refused to acknowledge the ruling and has instead constructed artificial islands on disputed reefs.
After the August supply mission was obstructed, China's foreign ministry called on the Philippines to remove the stranded ship at Second Thomas Shoal, asserting that Manila had "repeatedly made clear promises to tow away the warship illegally 'stranded' on the reef." No information was provided regarding who made the promise.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte, who served until mid-2022, pivoted the Philippines' alignments toward China and Russia, straining relations with its long-standing ally, the United States. However, his successor, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., restored security ties with the U.S. and granted American troops broader access to Philippine military bases in early 2023. This move drew China's ire, as an increased U.S. presence in the Philippines would bridge the gap in Washington's alliance network across the region, extending from South Korea and Japan in the north to Australia in the south.
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