Eight Chinese ships, seemingly ignoring a US military surveillance plane circling around them, pursue Philippine supply boats before briefly blockading them in the hotly contested South China Sea.
This high-risk cat-and-mouse game took place on Tuesday.
However, the Chinese Coast Guard had assured that the Philippine boats would be authorized “in the spirit of humanism” to deliver provisions to a small garrison stationed on the disputed Second Thomas reef.
But a Chinese radio operator later warned that the two Philippine Coast Guard ships escorting the supply boats would have to leave the scene or “take full responsibility for any consequences.”
“In the spirit of humanity, we will only allow the vessel carrying food and other essential supplies and rotating personnel, but no construction materials, to visit the illegally stranded vessel on the reef,” he said.
A team of AFP journalists aboard the BRP Cabra, one of the two Philippine Coast Guards, witnessed all of the Chinese manoeuvres. One of the Chinese ships approached the BRP Cabra to within a few meters.
Eventually, the two supply boats reached the reef and delivered food to the military stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre, a WWII ship the Philippines ran aground on Second Thomas Reef in 1999.
After China occupied nearby Mischief Reef in the mid-1990s, Manila wanted to assert its claims to sovereignty over Beijing.
Philippine troops stationed on this rusting old wreck depend on outside supplies to survive on Second Thomas, which is about 200 km from the Philippine island of Palawan and more than a thousand km from the nearest Chinese island, Hainan Island.
AFP was one of three media companies that had the relatively rare opportunity to take part in this resupply mission, less than three weeks after China Coast Guard ships used water cannon against a similar operation.
This August 5 incident had reignited tensions between Beijing and Manila. One of the two supply boats could not deliver its valuable cargo to the Filipino soldiers.
“No Permission Required”
China had drawn criticism from several countries, but Beijing had described its behavior as “professional” and accused Manila of “illegal supply of building materials”.
Ignoring a 2016 international ruling, Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, a strategic region through which billions of dollars in trade flows each year, despite competing claims from the Philippines, Vietnam or Malaysia.
For his part, since taking power in June 2022, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos has insisted he will not allow China to trample on his country’s rights at sea and is moving closer to the United States.
On Wednesday, Jay Tarriela, spokesman for the Philippine Coast Guard for the western Philippine Sea, revisited the previous day’s incident, telling reporters that Chinese vessels had engaged in “many dangerous maneuvers” to harass Philippine boats.
He dismissed the Chinese argument citing “humanitarian considerations” to authorize the shipments.
Before takeoff: “We don’t need permission.”