While much of the world was busy watching Russia swallow Crimea, few realized that an also dangerous territorial tit-for-tat had begun to unfold earlier this month more than 5,000 miles away in the South China Sea. At Second Thomas Shoal, a handful of Philippine marines have long been stationed and re-provisioned on the rusting deck […]
BEIJING – China warned the Philippines on Monday to abandon a disputed shoal in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) after Manila said it planned to challenge a Chinese naval blockade of the area by sending supplies to its troops stationed there. Last week, a senior Philippines military official said his country would send […]
The Department of Foreign Affairs today issued a statement to belie China’s allegation that the country has agreed to pull-out of the Ayungin Shoal. In a remote corner of the South China Sea, 105 nautical miles from the Philippines, lies a submerged reef that Filipinos call Ayungin. In most ways it resembles the hundreds of […]
Manila: The Philippines air-dropped food and water to soldiers posted on a grounded transport ship on a disputed South China Sea shoal, after China blocked two supply ships from reaching the troops, a senior navy official said on Wednesday. Chinese ships patrolling waters around Second Thomas Shoal, known in China as the Ren’ai reef, on […]
China said on Monday that coast guard ships had driven away two Philippine vessels which had tried to approach a shoal in the South China Sea in the latest flare-up of a long-running territorial dispute. The Chinese ships were patrolling waters around Second Thomas Shoal, known in China as the Ren’ai reef, when they spotted […]
Malacañang declared on Wednesday that it would ‘never respect China’s nine-dash claim’ in the South China Sea and that no one – especially not Beijing – can prevent Filipino fishermen from plying the country’s waters. “[We will never respect it because] it’s a derogation of international laws. Nine-dash line is something we cannot accept,” said […]
The U.S. has criticized China for provoking the Philippines in the Second Thomas Shoal even as Manila air-lifted supplies to its marines stationed on the disputed reef. On Sunday, Chinese coast guard vessels blocked two Filipino civilian vessels from resupplying marines located on the Second Thomas Shoal, which the Philippines calls the Ayungin Shoal and […]
WASHINGTON — China’s blocking of supplies to a Philippine outpost in the South China Sea is “provocative” and raises tensions, the United States said Wednesday, in its latest criticism of China’s assertive conduct in disputed seas of East Asia. The Philippines, a U.S. ally, protested to China Tuesday its prevention of two Filipino vessels from […]
MANILA, Philippines — China rejectd anew the Philippines’ protest against its actions in the disputed seas after Beijing admitted preventing Filipino-owned ships from delivering construction materials to a Philippine-occupied shoal. “The Foreign Ministry has summoned the head of the Philippines Embassy in China to lodge solemn representation on this event,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang […]
MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese coast guard prevented delivery of supplies to Filipino soldiers guarding a disputed shoal in the South China Sea and an envoy rejected a Philippine protest over the interference, officials said Tuesday. Chinese ships prevented two Filipino civilian vessels hired by the Philippine navy from reaching Second Thomas Shoal on Sunday, […]