MANILA — The Philippines on Saturday completed unimpeded a resupply trip to its troops at a disputed South China Sea shoal, its foreign ministry said, the first such mission under a new arrangement with China aimed at cooling tensions.
The Philippines and China last week announced a “provisional agreement” on Manila’s resupply missions to its contingent of troops on a naval ship grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal, after repeated clashes between vessels that have caused regional concerns about an escalation of hostilities.
The Philippines intentionally immobilized the now rusty former U.S. vessel at the shoal in 1999 in an attempt to claim it as its territory and has since maintained a small rotational troop presence there, infuriating China, which has coast guard stationed in the area.
Saturday’s mission involved a civilian vessel, escorted by Philippine coast guard, with no untoward incidents reported, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Chinese vessels were at a reasonable distance with no risk of collision, it said, adding it gave no prior notification to China, which made no attempt to inspect the vessels.
China’s coast guard said it supervised the entire process, according to spokesperson Gan Yu.
“It is hoped that the Philippines will honor its commitment, work with China halfway, and jointly manage the maritime situation,” he said in a statement.
Speaking at a regional summit in Laos, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was pleased the mission was a success and that the two countries were able to reach an agreement.
“We applaud that and hope and expect to see that it continues going forward,” he said.
The Philippines and China have both said the agreement would not change their positions on territory.
The shoal is within the Philippines‘ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and located 1,300 km (808 miles) off mainland China, which refers to it as Renai Reef.
In June, a Philippine navy personnel member lost a finger in an incident that Manila described as “intentional, high-speed ramming” by the China coast guard, which said the replenishment ship ignored repeated warnings to leave.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory based on historic maps, a claim an arbitral tribunal in 2016 ruled had no basis under international law.
—Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales in Manila and Kevin Yao in Beijing; Editing by Martin Petty
