China on Friday reiterated that it would take “forceful measures” to back its territorial claims after reports that the Philippines might deploy another of its large coast guard ships to a hotspot in the South China Sea.
SCS Probing Initiative, a Peking University think tank cited an unidentified source as saying Thursday that Manila planned to send 318-foot coast guard cutter the BRP Melchior Aquino to contested Sabina Reef to relieve the similarly sized cutter the BRP Teresa Magbanua.
The Sabina Shoal, part of the Spratly islands, sits about 75 miles from the Philippine province of Palawan. One of the most contentious features in the Philippines’ long-running territorial dispute with China, the shoal lies within the Philippines‘ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) within which maritime law grants a country exclusive rights to natural resources.
The Philippines dispatched the Teresa Magbanua to Sabina Shoal, known in the Philippines as Escoda Shoal, in April after reports a large amount of crushed coral had been dumped there.
China has accused the U.S. ally of continually stationing the ship there to stake its own claim, similar to how it grounded an aging naval vessel at another Spratly Island feature, Second Thomas Shoal, in 1999. The Philippines has denied this.
“Again, Teresa Magbanua’s objective is only to advance our national interest and to safeguard our position in Escoda Shoal. So, we don’t pay so much attention to the comments of the Chinese government,” the Manila Standard quoted Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela as saying last month.
The vessel’s monthslong deployment there is “seriously violating China’s sovereignty and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, posing a serious threat to peace and stability in the South China Sea,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday. The spokesperson said China had “lodged solemn representations” and demanded the withdrawal of all Philippine ships from the area.
Beijing “will take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” the spokesperson added.
Chinese state-owned tabloid the Global Times quoted Yang Xiao, deputy director of the Institute of Maritime Strategy Studies, as predicting more trouble over Sabina Shoal.
He said China has said on multiple occasions that it won’t let the Philippines “wantonly occupy” the shoal and so will “not allow” the country to send a second large patrol vessel to “increase the scale of the floating platform.”
If the Philippines sends the Teresa Magbanua, “it indicates Manila’s long-term commitment to contesting China’s soft occupation of Sabina Shoal, and China’s determination to enforce its claim to an unoccupied low-tide elevation just 75 nautical miles from Palawan,” Ray Powell, director of the Stanford University-affiliated SeaLight initiative, told Newsweek.
The Chinese coast guard has also maintained a presence near the shoal in recent weeks. Ship tracking data showed China’s 541-foot CCG 5901, the largest coast guard ship in the world, arriving at the shoal until August 3, according to Powell.
CCG 5901, nicknamed the “Monster,” departed early last week after about 30 days in those waters, where, at least part of the time, it was just 2,400 feet from its Philippine counterpart, per the Philippine Coast Guard. Another Chinese vessel took its place in an apparent ship rotation.
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Philippine Coast Guard with written requests for comment.
