Following a brief pause. Beijing has resumed its pressure on Manila over the South China Sea (SCS). On Tuesday, March 5, a five-strong flotilla of China Coast Guard (CCG) patrol ships intercepted a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) resupply convoy that was on passage to the Philippine Marine Corps...
Although collisions, confrontations, and harassment in the South China Sea (SCS) often make the headlines these days, the reach and depth of China’s strategy of intrusive patrolling as Beijing seeks to establish a persistent and dominant presence in the sea are not widely understood. The People’s...
China is again making mischief in the South China Sea, although this time while wars rage in Gaza and the Ukraine. The precise timing of its actions in the South China Sea undoubtedly reflects China’s short-term imperatives and long-term plans, but the overall trend is worrying. There may be...
Tensions are high again in the South China Sea. While Beijing attempts to tighten its grip on the region with a new ten-dash line, a multi-billion dollar military modernisation drive is underway in the Philippines. Manila’s resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre warship, deliberately grounded in...
In recent months, long-standing tensions between the maritime forces of the Philippines and China in the South China Sea have crystallised over the disputed area of Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands. In 1999, Manila deliberately grounded the old Philippine Navy landing ship BRP Sierra...
PCG vessels – BRP Cabra and BRP Sindangan escorted the indigenous boats utilized by the AFP as supply vessels to transport essential provisions to our troops aboard BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, completing the mission on Aug. 22, 2023. Philippine Coast Guard Photo
With a U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane circling overhead, two resupply ships escorted by two Philippine Coast Guard vessels maneuvered their way through a Chinese naval blockade in a five-hour confrontation to bring food, other...
The Philippine Coast Guard’s highlighting of China’s harassment of its vessels near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands has undoubtedly boosted sympathy for Manila in its David-versus-Goliath struggle to maintain jurisdiction and sovereignty in the South China Sea. Under daily challenge from Beijing, the Philippines has run an effective name-and-shame campaign against China’s disruption […]
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Philippine Military resupply mission was hit with a water canon from a Chinese Coast Guard cutter. Philippine Military Photo
China Coast Guard cutters disrupted an Armed Forces of the Philippines resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, including instances where they fired water cannons, a Philippines Coast Guard spokesperson said Monday.
As Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessels BRP Malabrigo (MRRV-4402) and BRP Cabra (MRRV-4409) approached Sabina Shoal, the rendezvous...
The two boats (encircled) bringing supplies to Philippine troops aboard the BRP Sierra Madre. Photo provided by Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine military undertook a resupply mission for its troops in the Second Thomas Shoal in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) on Tuesday, exactly one week after the mission was aborted after two Chinese Coast Guard vessels used water cannons to attack the two civilian boats bringing supplies to the soldiers.
The...
