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Orange Wang

China says it is “monitoring” and “effectively controlling” Philippine ships gathering around the disputed Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea, while vowing to “resolutely defend” its territorial sovereignty.
Patrol boats from the Philippines’ Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and a number of fishing vessels from the country have gathered in the waters near the Philippine coastguard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua since Saturday, according to a statement from the China Coast Guard.
The Chinese statement said the ship had been “illegally stranded” at the shoal.
“The Chinese coastguard has been monitoring in accordance with the law and effectively controlling the situation throughout the whole process,” spokesman Gan Yu said.
Sabina Shoal, known as Xianbin Jiao in China and Escoda Shoal in the Philippines, has increasingly taken centre stage in the string of recent stand-offs in contested areas of the South China Sea.
It is one of many atolls in the Spratly Islands, called the Nansha in China. China and the Philippines are among the rival claimants to the archipelago.
Located about 75 nautical miles (139km) off the Philippine province of Palawan and close to a reef with rich oil deposits, Sabina Shoal is a rendezvous point for Philippine resupply missions for troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre, which sits grounded in the also contested Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratlys.

Manila grounded the World War II-era navy ship there in 1999 to assert its claim and provide a makeshift base for its troops. But the rusting vessel is at increasing risk of collapse. Chinese experts see this as one of the reasons for the recent Philippine efforts to deliver repair materials to the ship – missions that have sparked several clashes with Chinese vessels.
The Philippines has carried out enough reinforcements to make the outpost last “at least another decade”, Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing four anonymous sources.
Beijing and Manila reached a deal last month on the resupply missions to Second Thomas Shoal but have failed to agree on the key conditions since then.
In a meeting with his Philippine counterpart Enrique Manalo on July 26, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the key to the agreement was for Manila to “fulfil its commitments and refrain from changing its position”, or Beijing would “definitely respond resolutely”.
China-Philippines relations were at a “crossroads” and dialogue and consultation were the only way out of conflict and confrontation, Wang told Manalo on the sidelines of a regional meeting in Laos.
The following day, during talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Wang urged Washington – a treaty ally of Manila – to “not take any more action to fan the flames, stir up trouble or undermine maritime stability” in the South China Sea.
During a visit to Manila last week, Blinken reaffirmed US commitments to the 1951 mutual defence treaty.
“We stand by our ironclad defence commitment to the Philippines,” Blinken said on Tuesday. “That extends to armed attacks on Filipino armed forces, public vessels or aircraft – including the coastguard – anywhere in the Pacific, including the South China Sea.”
On Sunday, Manila confirmed that it had deployed rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) from the BRP Teresa Magbanua, stationed in Sabina Shoal since April to monitor alleged Chinese building of an artificial island there. It said the vessel would help the Philippine fisheries bureau in distributing fuel assistance to Filipino fishers.


According to the Philippine coastguard, the deployment aimed to ensure that Filipino fishermen could access fuel support at offshore fishing grounds “without interference from any party, including the [China] Coast Guard”.
“Currently, the deployed PCG RHIBs are effectively blocking attempts by the Chinese Coast Guard to approach the [fisheries bureau] vessels, thereby safeguarding the fuel distribution process,” coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela tweeted on Sunday.
Chinese coastguard spokesman Gan said the stationing of the ship infringed upon China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights, violated the regional Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and undermined peace and stability in the region.
China had “indisputable sovereignty” over the Spratly Islands, including Sabina Shoal, and their adjacent waters, he added.
“The Chinese coastguard will, as always, uphold rights and enforce the law in the waters under its jurisdiction and resolutely defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”


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South China Sea

South China Sea: Chinese coastguard ‘monitoring’ Philippine vessels near Sabina Shoal

Philippine coastguard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels on a fuel assistance mission to the Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea. Photo: Philippine Coast Guard

SCMP / Mapcreator

China may take ‘tough measures’ in Sabina Shoal stand-off with Philippines, analysts say

Philippine vessels pictured near Sabina Shoal. Photo: China Coast Guard

The disputed Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands. Photo: Gallo Images via Getty Images

Philippines fortifies South China Sea outpost for a decade

Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. holds a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with members of his cabinet on July 30, 2024. Photo: AFP

Philippine Marines fold a Philippine national flag during a flag retreat at the grounded BRP Sierra Madre. Photo: Reuters

South China Sea: Philippines says ‘no incidents’ with China in first resupply mission after deal

A Chinese coastguard vessel blocks the Philippine coastguard ship BRP Cabra as it approaches Second Thomas Shoal during a resupply mission in the disputed South China Sea on November 10, 2023. Photo: AP

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Illustration: Henry Wong

A Philippine resupply vessel on its way to Second Thomas Shoal on May 4 is intercepted by the Chinese coastguard. Photo: AP

Maritime militia boats sail with a Chinese coastguard ship (upper left) at Scarborough Shoal on February 16. Photo: AFP

News

China

Diplomacy

Atoll in the disputed Spratlys has increasingly taken centre stage in recent China-Philippines stand-offs in the South China Sea


Atoll in the disputed Spratlys has increasingly taken centre stage in recent China-Philippines stand-offs in the South China Sea.


China-Philippines relations

China-Asean relations

US-China relations: the Asian angle

Washington