Philippines sends fresh troops to shoal at centre of dispute with China

The Philippines has deployed a fresh batch of marines and supplies to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea, where a Chinese warship and surveillance vessels appeared last month and triggered a new standoff in the strategic waters, the Philippine defence secretary said on Wednesday.

The new contingent of Filipino marines replaced troops at the Second Thomas Shoal, where the arrival last month of Chinese ships sparked diplomatic protests from the Philippines.

Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said that the shoal lies within the Philippines’ internationally recognised 200-nautical mile (370-kilometre) exclusive economic zone. China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own and last year took control of another shoal in the Philippines’ economic zone, prompting Manila to seek UN arbitration.

The Filipino marines at the Second Thomas, locally known as Ayungin Shoal, have been stationed in a decrepit military hospital ship that ran aground in 1999 on the shallow coral outcrop and has since become an awkward symbol of Philippine sovereignty.

Gazmin said he had discussed the fresh Philippine deployment with Chinese Ambassador Ma Keqing recently. Ma raised concerns that the Philippines was planning to erect concrete structures at the shoal to reinforce its territorial claim, but Gazmin said he had assured her there was no such plan.

Gazmin said that he discussed the issue with Ma to prevent a possible confrontation between Chinese and Filipino forces, but stressed that the Philippines was free to undertake any activity in the shoal without notifying China.