The crew of the Philippine coastguard boat watch anxiously as an imposing Chinese vessel attracts close to and cuts off its path, coming inside a metre of collision in an enormous stretch of open water within the South China Sea.
The captain of the BRP Sindangan shuts off the engine and prompts the reverse throttle. China’s coastguard points a warning through megaphone to depart because the Filipino crew watch intently on a radar that reveals two vessels aspect by aspect.
“In accordance with international and Philippine national laws we are proceeding,” a crew member responds.
“Request to stay clear from our passage.”
Tense encounters like this, about 100 miles (185 km) off the Philippines and witnessed by a Reuters journalist, have gotten extra frequent in Asia’s most contested waters as China presses its declare of possession over nearly your entire South China Sea.
China guidelines the waves right here, and the Philippine mission is symbolic of a wider battle between Beijing and neighbours decided to uphold sovereign rights of their unique financial zones (EEZ).
The Philippine coastguard ship is escorting smaller boats to the Second Thomas Shoal that carry provides to a handful of troops posted to a makeshift garrison aboard the Sierra Madre, a World War Two navy ship that was deliberately grounded on the reef 1 / 4 of a century in the past.
Strategic battleground
Their fixed presence aboard the rusty ship has irked China and turned the Second Thomas Shoal right into a strategic battleground, with Beijing deploying its extra trendy coastguard ships and clusters of fishing boats so far as 620 miles (1,150 km) from the Chinese coast.
Just 800 metres away, a gray navy ship begins to comply with the Sindangan, becoming a member of the 4 Chinese coastguard vessels and 5 different boats suspected by the Philippines of being militia.
The Sindangan hangs again as the provision boats advance to finish the remaining 9 miles (17 km) to succeed in the troops aboard the Sierra Madre.
China condemned the resupply mission, saying Philippine vessels had “intruded” in its waters within the Spratly Islands with out its permission. It has beforehand ordered the Philippines to tow the grounded ship away from the atoll.
The stakes are excessive if this brinkmanship turns to miscalculation within the South China Sea.
Relations between the Philippines and China have additional soured this 12 months at a time of strengthened navy engagement between Manila and Washington that Beijing says dangers stoking regional tensions.
The Philippines and the United States have a Mutual Defense Treaty, and the Pentagon in May made clear it might shield the Philippines if its coastguard got here beneath assault “anywhere in the South China Sea”.
Jay Tarriela of the Philippine coastguard stated it was his nation’s proper to function freely in its EEZ and accused China of violating worldwide regulation.
“They have carried out dangerous maneuvers and blocking operations to prevent our routine operations in providing supplies for our military troops,” he advised reporters.
(Reuters – Reporting by Adrian Portugal; Writing by Karen Lema; Editing by Martin Petty)
