Philippine Coast Guard accuses China of ‘dangerous maneuvers’ around Second Thomas Shoal.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has said two of its vessels were involved in a “showdown” with the Chinese navy in the disputed South China Sea and accused the China Coast Guard (CCG) of conducting “dangerous maneuvers” at Second Thomas Shoal. , a long-running flashpoint between the two countries.
The first incident occurred when the Chinese naval vessel crossed coast guard boats 7 nautical miles (13 km) from the island of Pag-asa on April 21, the PCG said in a statement on Friday. Also known as Thitu Island, the rocky outcrop on the disputed Spratly Islands was occupied by the Philippines in the 1970s and is now home to as many as 400 people.
The Coast Guard said the confrontation began when the Chinese corvette ordered the PCG ships to leave, suggesting that failure to comply could lead to [a] problem”.
The statement said the PCG ships “did not back down and responded by asserting their rights to conduct operations within the territorial sea of the island of Pag-asa”. and asked the Chinese Navy to leave.
The second incident occurred two days later near Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines.
On this occasion, the PCG ships were intercepted by two CCG ships that “displayed aggressive tactics,” the PCG statement said.
One of the Chinese ships was said to have “executed dangerous maneuvers … at a dangerous distance of only 50 meters,” it said.
“This proximity posed a significant threat to the safety and security of the Philippine vessel and its crew,” the statement said, noting that the second Chinese vessel was closely monitoring the movements of the other PCG vessel at a distance of approximately 640 meters (700 yards). recruit).
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, ignoring a ruling by an international court of the Philippines that there was no historical basis for its claim.
Since the 2016 ruling, it has strengthened its presence on the waterway by expanding and developing military outposts and deploying fishing fleets, its maritime militia and the Coast Guard.
The PCG statement said its ships also encountered more than 100 alleged Chinese militia vessels during their weeks-long patrol of shoals and features around the Western Philippine Sea, which ended April 24.
In addition to China and the Philippines, states such as Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as self-governing Taiwan, have claims to the South China Sea.
The Philippines accused China in February of using a high-powered laser against one of its ships during a resupply mission off Second Thomas Shoal and filed a protest.
Located about 195 km (121 mi) northwest of the Philippine province of Palawan in the disputed Spratly Islands, the shoal is home to a small group of Filipino soldiers who live aboard a rusting World War II ship known as the Sierra Madre. , which was deliberately grounded there in 1999 to underscore the Philippines’ claim to the island chain.
CCG patrols were also involved in a serious confrontation with Vietnamese vessels near key Vietnamese gas and oil fields last month. building too close to Malaysia’s Kasawari gas development project, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.