South China Sea: Philippines ‘will not allow’ Beijing to remove vessels

Philippine military officials have vowed to protect the BRP Teresa Magbanua, a key asset in the South China Sea stand-off at Sabina Shoal

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A frame grab from handout video footage shows a Chinese coastguard ship (left) colliding with Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua near the Sabina Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea on August 31. Photo: Philippine Coast Guard/AFP

Published: 4:30pm, 9 Sep 2024Updated: 4:54pm, 9 Sep 2024

In the escalating game of tit-for-tat that is playing out in the South China Sea, Manila has drawn a bold line in the sand: no Philippine vessel will be removed by force.

But as tensions rise, analysts warn that the spectre of armed conflict looms – potentially drawing the United States into the showdown.

Colonel Xerxes Trinidad, chief of the Philippine military’s public affairs office, recently addressed these high-stakes dynamics in an interview with This Week in Asia.

He was responding to remarks from Beijing-based strategist Hu Bo, director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, who suggested towing the BRP Teresa Magbanua was “one of the options” being considered by Beijing.

Deployed to Sabina Shoal more than four months ago, the Teresa Magbanua is a symbol of Manila’s determination to counter Chinese expansionism in a region fraught with historical tensions.

The ship was stationed at the disputed shoal 146km west of the Philippines’ Palawan island – and around 1,200km from the nearest major Chinese land mass – to deter China from carrying out island-building efforts similar to those elsewhere in the disputed waterway.