The Filipino government has stated that they will continuously deploy vessels in the contested Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea, after a Philippine ship returned to port after a five-month deployment there. “We will sustain presence over these waters,” Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Spokesperson Jay Tarriela said at a press conference.
The PCG’s vessel, Teresa Magbanua, was deployed to Sabina Shoal in April to monitor what Manila suspects to be China’s small-scale land reclamation activities in the area. It returned to port on Sunday.
Tarriela said the ship’s return was not related to China’s demand for Manila to withdraw its vessel, instead it was so it could be repaired and to attend to the crew’s medical needs. Sabina Shoal, which China refers to as Xianbin Reef and the Philippines as the Escoda Shoal, lies west of the Philippine province of Palawan, within the country’s exclusive economic zone.
“Regardless of what size of vessel, regardless of how many vessels, the main objective and the commitment of the (PCG)commandant… is to make sure that at any one time, there will be a coast guard presence in the shoal,” Tarriela said.
China’s coast guard said on Sunday it would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in the waters under Beijing’s jurisdiction in accordance with the law and safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea. China’s claims overlap with the maritime zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. In 2016 the Hague arbitration tribunal declared void China’s expansive and historical claims, the decision has been rejected by Beijing.
The Philippines have slammed China for “repeated aggressive, unprofessional and illegal” actions in the South China Sea after a string of clashes and incidents on air and at sea. The Philippines’ National Maritime Council stated that Chinese aircraft made unsafe manoeuvres around a civilian aircraft conducting patrols over the Scarborough shoal and the Subi reef.
Chinese vessels have also in the past “blocked, rammed and activated water cannons” against a government fisheries vessel while doing a resupply mission to Filipino fishermen in Sabina shoal.
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
