MANILA (Bloomberg): The Philippines said it successfully resupplied a stranded ship in a shoal in the South China Sea on Friday despite "dangerous maneuvers” carried out by China’s Coast Guard vessels and militia.
"The unprofessional act and dangerous maneuvers conducted by the China Coast Guard and its maritime militia will never prevail over our conduct of legal and legitimate operations that support rules-based international order,” Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Medel Aguilar said in a statement.
This marks the Philippines’ second successful resupply mission since China thwarted last month a similar operation in Second Thomas Shoal, where the grounded ship BRP Sierra Madre serves as Manila’s outpost in the disputed sea.
The South-East Asian nation has stepped up efforts to pressure Beijing to change its ways by releasing videos and images of their persistent confrontations.
China on Friday issued a stern warning to two Philippine supply boats and two coast guard vessels entering the sea near the Nansha Islands without approval, according to a statement on the official Weibo account of China’s coast guard.
Nansha Islands is how Beijing calls Spratly Islands in the South China Sea that’s also being claimed by Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Taiwan.
The Philippines said a Chinese coast guard ship blocked and fired water cannons on a supply vessel on Aug. 5, which prompted Manila to issue a diplomatic note. Manila said it was able to deliver supplies to the military outpost over two weeks later despite what it described as attempts from China to "block, harass and interfere.”
The two nations have been locked in a territorial dispute in the resource-rich waters, with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ramping up protests over China’s actions since he took power last year.
He discussed maritime security in the South China Sea with US Vice President Kamala Harris on the fringes of the Asean summit in Jakarta this week.
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