Santa Claus is coming to the South China Sea, on a mission to spread Christmas cheer to Filipino fisherfolk, troops and coast guard officials while hopefully avoiding an international dispute with China. At 1am on Sunday, the convoy of 40 fishing boats loaded with Christmas donations, Father Christmas figurines and nativity displays set sail from El Nido, Palawan, in the Philippines, on its way to disputed areas that Beijing claims, without legal grounds, as its own. The trip, organised by the coalition Atin Ito (meaning “It’s ours”), involves dozens of…
Tag: Philippines
Australia and Philippines begin joint patrols in South China Sea as regional tensions rise
Australia and the Philippines have begun joint sea and air patrols in the South China Sea as Pacific nations warily eye an increasingly assertive China. The three-day exercises follow discussions earlier this year on joint patrols to underscore what the countries say is their commitment to closer cooperation and a rules-based order in the region. It also comes days after Manila took similar steps with the US, concluding patrols that started in waters near Taiwan. Australia’s defence minister, Richard Marles, said the inaugural patrols represent the practical implementation of the…
Philippines military accuses China of bullying and vows to continue South China Sea missions
The Philippines has accused China of seeking to bully smaller countries into submission and vowed it will continue its missions to deliver supplies to a grounded derelict warship that serves as an outpost in the South China Sea. The Philippines deliberately grounded BRP Sierra Madre at Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, in 1999 to guard against expansion by China, and the ship has become a growing flashpoint in the fiercely disputed water. Beijing has demanded the warship’s removal, and over recent months has repeatedly tried…
How China Dominates South China Sea with Its Ships
Dots show Chineseships’ movements Pacific Ocean South China Sea East China Sea SouthKorea Philippines Philippines Philippines exclusive economic zone Mischief Reefoccupied by China Second Thomas Shoaloccupied by the Philippines Mischief Reefoccupied by China Second Thomas Shoaloccupied by the Philippines Union Bankoccupied by Chinaand Vietnam Subi Reefoccupied by China Spratly Islands Spratly Islands Chinese militia Philippinecoast guard Chinese coast guard Beijing says many of these boats are just fishing. But they bristle with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and high-velocity water cannons. They’re here for intimidation. ● Chinese militia and coast guard…
Philippine Ship Is an Unlikely Outpost That Is Angering China
For more than two decades, it has been an unlikely flashpoint in the South China Sea: a rusty, World War II-era ship beached on a tiny reef that has become a symbol of Philippine resistance against Beijing. The Philippine government ran the vessel aground in 1999 on the Second Thomas Shoal, a contested reef 120 miles off the coast of the western province of Palawan. The dilapidated warship, known as the Sierra Madre, will never sail again. But it has remained there ever since, a marker of the Philippines’ claim…
Japan and Philippines, Wary of China, Look to Expand Military Ties
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan said on Friday that his country would start formal talks with the Philippines to allow the deployment of Japanese troops to the Southeast Asian country, further strengthening ties between two countries that have embraced each other as bulwarks against China. “We share serious concerns on the situation in the East China Sea and South China Sea,” Mr. Kishida said, referring to Beijing’s increasingly assertive actions in the region. “The attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force is unacceptable.” Mr. Kishida’s announcement came…
Why the rusting wreck of a second world war ship is so important to China
It is perhaps the most unlikely kind of military base. For more than two decades, a second world war-era ship, BRP Sierra Madre, has stood deliberately grounded in the remote, shallow waters of the fiercely contested South China Sea, carrying the Philippine flag and guarding against Chinese expansion. But its future is increasingly precarious, and the ship has become a growing flashpoint in one of the world’s most disputed waters. The Sierra Madre, marooned on Second Thomas Shoal, in the Spratly Islands, since 1999, is effectively a shipwreck. Rust has…
China and the Philippines trade blame over two South China Sea collisions
Beijing and Manila have traded blame for two separate collisions on Sunday between Chinese vessels and Philippine boats on a resupply mission to Filipino troops on a remote outpost in the disputed South China Sea. The incidents occurred near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands – a hotly contested region where Beijing deploys ships to assert its claims over almost the entire sea. The Philippines accused China’s coast guard of colliding with a supply boat, saying the “dangerous blocking manoeuvres of China Coast Guard vessel 5203 caused it to…
‘Risk of miscalculation’ rises in South China Sea as Beijing ramps up aggressive tactics
In shaky camera footage, a member of the Philippine coast guard can be seen dipping below the waters of South China Sea, ready to carry out the instructions of the country’s president. “Just cut it off,” says a voice in the background and the coast guard, posing as a fisher in a snorkel, proceeds to hack away at a piece of rope. The video, taken on Monday near the fiercely contested Scarborough Shoal, shows the Philippines’ mission to remove what it described as a hazardous floating barrier installed by China’s…
The Philippines’ Tension With China Crosses New Line in South China Sea
The video may seem too simple, too understated to mark a serious international incident in the South China Sea: a quick clip of a diver using a knife to cut a section of rope underwater. But that diver was with the Philippine Coast Guard, and the rope was part of a sea barrier placed by Chinese forces to keep Philippine boats away from an area they had a legal right to fish in. In that moment, the Philippines took one of the most forceful steps yet in contesting China’s unrelenting…