China condemns Philippine resupply mission to disputed atoll

BEIJING/MANILA – China has condemned a mission by four Philippine ships to resupply Philippine troops on a

disputed South China Sea atoll

, saying the vessels had entered its waters in the Spratly Islands without its permission.

The Philippines said on Wednesday that it had successfully sent supplies to its troops stationed on a World War II-era transport ship-turned-military outpost on the atoll, despite attempts by China’s coast guard to block it.

While

China is in dispute with several of its neighbours

over its extensive claims in the South China Sea, its relations with the Philippines have been particularly fraught recently over the issue, especially since

Mr Ferdinand Marcos Jr took over as Philippine president

in 2022.

“Philippine supply ships and two coast guard ships entered the waters... in China’s Nansha Islands without permission from the Chinese government,” China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu said in a post on its website, using China’s name for the Spratly Islands.

The atoll in the area is known as Ayungin in the Philippines, while China calls it the Renai Reef. Also known as the Second Thomas Shoal, it is 109km off the Philippine island of Palawan.

A small number of Philippine troops live on board the old navy transport ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, which the Philippines grounded on the shoal in 1999 to reinforce its sovereignty claim.

The Chinese coast guard said in its post that it issued stern warnings, and added that it firmly opposed the illegal Philippine transport of materials to the ship that “sits on the beach” illegally.

The Philippines last

completed a resupply mission

to the grounded ship on Sept 8.

A month earlier, a Chinese coast guard vessel fired water cannon at a Philippine supply boat during a similar attempt, drawing condemnation from the Philippines and old ally the United States.

China has told the Philippines to tow the vessel away, but

Manila has rejected the demand

.

The Philippine National Security Council (NSC) said its resupply and rotation mission was completed despite attempts by a significant number from China’s coast guard and Chinese maritime militia to “harass and interfere” with it.

“These missions are a legitimate exercise of the administrative functions of the Philippine government,” the NSC said.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea

, pointing to a line on its maps that cuts into the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration said in 2016 that the line on China’s maps had no legal basis. REUTERS