Philippines challenges China, delivers supplies to troops in Ayungin Shoal

MANILA – The Philippines effectively defied China’s provocative moves and warnings to cease sending supplies to Filipino soldiers stationed at Second Thomas Shoal, also known as Ayungin Shoal, an atoll in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea, 105 nautical miles west of Palawan.

Philippine Navy and Coast Guards vessels escorted a civilian boat recently and completed its mission in delivering supplies to marine soldiers in BRP Sierra Madre.

Filipino security officials said Chinese Coast Guard vessels tried, but failed to stop the civilian boat and its escorts from reaching the shoal which is being claimed by China.

Not backing out

Army Colonel Medel Aguilar, a spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said that the military is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of soldiers deployed in BRP Sierra Madre.

“The supply mission for the AFP personnel is intended to maintain the country’s presence in the Ayungin Shoal and to exercise its sovereign rights and jurisdiction based on international law to ensure regional peace and stability,” he said.

“Let me also add that we have a special message to the China Coast Guard for them to behave. They should not do any action that will endanger people’s lives. For all the consequences that the singular acts will cause, the blame will be on them and on the authorities above them, so they should behave,” he added.

Aguilar pointed out that the Ayungin Shoal holds a strategic importance for the Philippines and is a vital fishing ground for Filipino fishermen.

Beyond its practical purpose, the roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) mission to the shoal is a clear demonstration of the country’s resolve to stand up against threats and coercion and its commitment in upholding the rule of law, he said.

“As we continue to pursue this humanitarian undertaking and defend our rights [in] our maritime shoals, we also affirm our support for the peaceful settlement of disputes,” Medel said. “We call on all relevant parties to abide by (their) obligations under international law and respect the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its maritime source.”

A resupply mission last August 5 was subjected to dangerous maneuvers by the China Coast Guard firing water cannons to Filipino boats heading to Ayungin Shoal, putting the lives of the crew of the vessels at risk.

The members of the international community, particularly the Philippines’ allies, also condemned China’s actions. 

U.S. support

U.S. Secretary Austin has warned Beijing and reaffirmed that the Mutual Defense Treaty extends to Philippine public vessels, aircraft, and armed forces - to include those of its Coast Guard - in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea. 

Austin, who recently spoke today with Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. by phone and discussed U.S.-Philippines alliance cooperation. Both Secretaries reaffirmed the ironclad nature of the U.S.-Philippines alliance and committed to redouble efforts to strengthen bilateral training, interoperability, and support for the modernization of the AFP.

Austin condemned the China Coast Guard's use of water cannons and other dangerous maneuvers, which put the safety of Philippine vessels and crew at risk. He joined numerous countries in expressing concern about these unsafe operational activities, which undermine the status quo and directly threaten regional peace and stability. 

Both Austin and Teodoro reaffirmed their shared commitment to upholding the rules-based order, including supporting the Philippines' right to conduct lawful maritime activities, consistent with the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal Ruling, which is final and binding on all parties. 

They also committed to find a near-term opportunity to meet in-person and restated their commitment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder as allies to bring security, prosperity, and stability to the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. 

Marcos

Beijing demanded the Philippines remove the BRP Sierra Madre used as an occupied base from the disputed shoal, but President Ferdinand Marcos stood firm that the country will continue to assert its sovereignty over the territory.

Marcos held a command conference this month with senior defense and military officials in a bid to come up with a comprehensive action to respond to China’s dangerous maneuvers and illegal use of water cannons against the Philippine Coast Guard vessels in Ayungin Shoal.

The Sierra Madre had been run aground intentionally on May 9, 1997 to serve as an outpost to boost the Philippines’ claim to sovereignty over the Spratly islands.

China claims ownership over virtually the entire strategic waterway despite international rulings that have invalidated Beijing’s vast territorial claims, such as that of 2016 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, an international body based in The Hague.

Tensions between China and the Philippines over the South China Sea have risen since Marcos took office last year and moved Manila back towards its longtime ally the United States, reversing the direction taken by his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte.

“We continue to assert our sovereignty. We continue to assert our territorial rights in the face of all of these challenges and are consistent with the international law and UNCLOS especially,” Marcos said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. “So, that has always been our stand. But we still have to keep communicating with the Chinese government, with President Xi, with Beijing. We still have to keep communicating with them because we need to really come to a conclusion.”

The Chinese attack on the Philippine vessels came weeks after Duterte went to China on his own to speak to Xi, but details of the meeting were not made public either by the former president or Beijing.

OFWs threatened

Last April, Chinese ambassador to Manila, Huang Xilian, accused the Philippines of “stoking the fire” of regional tensions by offering expanded military base access to the U.S., saying that the goal was to interfere in China’s affairs with Taiwan.

China’s ruling Communist Party has never controlled Taiwan but claims the self-ruled island democracy as its own and has repeatedly refused to rule out taking it by force, a threat which Manila perceives as reason to ramp up its guard with help from Washington.

Huang also appeared to threaten overseas Filipino workers in Taiwan, which prompted a backlash in the Philippines. “The Philippines is advised to unequivocally oppose ‘Taiwan independence’ rather than stoking the fire by offering the US access to the military bases near the Taiwan Strait, if you care genuinely about the 150,000 OFWs,” Huang said. (Mindanao Examiner, AFP, CNN, VOA)