Manila attacks China over fresh boat ‘harassment’

The Philippines condemned “illegal” actions by Chinese vessels on Friday after the boats allegedly interfered in another resupply mission to a remote military outpost in the disputed South China Sea.
Two Philippine Coast Guard vessels were escorting supply boats to Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands when they encountered four Chinese coast guard and four “militia” boats, the Philippines coast guard said.
While the cargo was successfully delivered to the handful of Filipino troops on a grounded navy ship, the Chinese vessels had carried out “harassment, dangerous manoeuvres, and aggressive conduct” towards the Philippine boats, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea said.
“The Task Force strongly deplores and condemns the continued illegal, aggressive, and destabilising conduct of the CCG and the CMM within our nation’s EEZ,” said the task force, using the acronyms for the Chinese vessels and the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.
China claims almost the entire waterway, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually, and has ignored an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
In a statement, the China Coast Guard spokesperson accused the Philippine boats of entering the waters around the reef “without obtaining permission from the Chinese government”.
“The Chinese Coast Guard issued stern warnings, trailed their entire course, and effectively regulated the Philippine ships in accordance with the law,” the spokesperson said.
“China... firmly opposes the illegal transportation of construction materials by the Philippines to the illegal grounded warship.”
Second Thomas Shoal is about 200km from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000km from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan island.
The Philippine Navy deliberately grounded the World War II-era BRP Sierra Madre on the shoal in 1999 to check China’s advance in the waters.
The troops stationed on the crumbling ship depend on regular deliveries for their survival.
Friday’s resupply mission happened on the same day Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos signed a strategic partnership agreement with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Manila, as the countries seek to strengthen security and economic ties. Marcos thanked Albanese for his “strong support” for the Philippines as it seeks to fend off maritime claims that are “not valid”, in a thinly veiled reference to China.
In another apparent jab at Beijing, Marcos told the 18-nation East Asia Summit in Indonesia on Thursday to oppose the use of “coast guard and maritime militia vessels” in the South China Sea.