appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Kawala Xie

Chinese coastguard authorities have tracked another Philippine supply mission to a South China Sea shoal at the centre of confrontations between the two countries.
The China Coast Guard said on Saturday that it monitored a Philippine civilian boat that conducted a supply mission on Friday to a vessel grounded “illegally” at the Second Thomas Shoal.
“The China Coast Guard has been following, monitoring, and managing the whole process,” the agency said.
“The China Coast Guard continues to carry out law enforcement activities to safeguard our rights in waters under China’s jurisdiction in accordance with the law.”
The Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Friday it completed a “flawless” resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal.


Beijing and Manila both claim the disputed reef in the South China Sea, known as Renai Reef in China and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines.
The incident comes after a heated exchange over a “special arrangement” that China claimed it made for an airdrop of supplies by the Philippines to the shoal on January 21, days after they agreed to lower tensions in a consultation in Shanghai.
The China Coast Guard said last weekend it temporarily allowed the Philippines to provide food and water to soldiers stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre, a vessel grounded in 1999 on the shoal to assert Manila’s territorial claims.
China has often said it will allow the Philippines to transport supplies to the reef “out of humanitarian considerations” if the Philippines reports to China in advance and accepts China’s on-site supervision.
On Monday, Manila rejected suggestions that Beijing had a “temporary special arrangement” with Manila to allow the deliveries, saying it had the right to supply its troops.
The Philippines has stepped up efforts to assert its claims over various disputed reefs in the South China Sea. Last month, it announced plans to upgrade facilities on nine land features in the disputed waters, including the Second Thomas Shoal.


The Philippine Congress also approved funding to build a “permanent structure” that could be used as a shelter for fishermen on the shoal.
At a Lunar New Year event in Manila on Friday, Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian called on Manila to meet Beijing “halfway” and put ties between the two countries back on the path of “healthy and stable” development.
“China and the Philippines are close neighbours separated by a strip of water. Maritime issues should be properly handled through friendly consultations, and maritime differences should not dominate the entire relationship between the two countries,” Huang said.


Can AI-assisted unmanned vessels be Beijing’s answer to South China Sea patrols?

Trump leaves China after much pomp and pageantry, but little to show for it

Taiwan casts long shadow over Trump’s summit with Xi

Why US is backing Philippine airport at former Sangley Point naval base

South China Sea

South China Sea: Beijing keeps close eye on Philippine supply mission to Second Thomas Shoal

The BRP Sierra Madre was run aground at the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999. Photo: Reuters

South China Sea: Chinese coastguard ‘drove off’ Filipinos in latest run-in at disputed Scarborough Shoal

The Chinese coastguard has released a video it says was filmed on one of its vessels during Sunday’s incident. Photo: Weibo/@China Coast Guard

Scarborough Shoal is a traditional fishing area for both China and the Philippines. Photo: AFP

South China Sea: Vietnam and Philippines aren’t a ‘clique’ out to ‘sabotage’ Beijing

A Philippine coast guard ship (right) sails past a Chinese coast guard vessel on May 14, 2019, near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Photo: AFP

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos (left) and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong in Hanoi on January 30. Photo: AFP 

After the leaders of South Korea, the United States and Japan met at Camp David in August 2023, Beijing accused Washington of trying to revive the Cold War in the Asia-Pacific through “small cliques”. Photo: AP

South China Sea: Philippines’ Marcos approves purchase of submarines to defend sovereignty, amid growing China tensions

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr says his country is looking to purchase submarines as part of a plan to modernise the military, and defend the country’s sovereignty in the South China Sea. 
Photo: AP

South China Sea: Vietnam, Philippines to boost coastguard cooperation under new deals

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr (left) and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong (right) look on as the Philippine Coastguard Commander Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan and Vietnamese Coastguard Commander Le Quang Dao exchange signed documents in Hanoi on Tuesday. Photo: VNA via AP

A worker carries a bag of rice at a rice shop in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnamese rice accounts for 85 per cent of imported rice in the Philippines. Photo: AP

South China Sea: Philippines alarmed by 200 Chinese vessels at Mischief Reef, Marcos urges dialogue

Chinese structures and buildings at Mischief Reef in the South China Sea on March 20, 2022. Photo: AP

News

China

Diplomacy

China Coast Guard says Philippine boat made a delivery at a reef claimed by both countries
Manila says it has the right to resupply its troops stationed in the contested waterway


China Coast Guard says Philippine boat supplied an ‘illegal’ vessel but Manila says it has the right to resupply its troops stationed there.


China-Philippines relations

South China Sea: Beijing keeps close eye on Philippine supply mission to Second Thomas Shoal

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}China Coast Guard says Philippine boat made a delivery at a reef claimed by both countries Manila says it has the right to resupply its troops stationed in the contested waterway

China Coast Guard says Philippine boat made a delivery at a reef claimed by both countries

Manila says it has the right to resupply its troops stationed in the contested waterway