China may have advanced intel on Philippine resupply missions — PCG

CHINA might have an informant in the Philippines, a local coast guard official said on Monday, citing how the Chinese Coast Guard had managed to block Manila’s resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal on Aug. 5.

Six Chinese Coast Guard vessels involved in “dangerous maneuvers” against four Philippine vessels on Aug. 5 had been stationed at different parts of the South China Sea — including Mischief Reef, Pagasa Island, Bajo de Masinloc and Subi Reef — before the incident, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tristan Tarriela told ABS-CBN New Teleradyo.

The Chinese ships suddenly converged at Second Thomas Shoal a day before the incident, blocking the Philippines’ resupply mission, he said. The vessels immediately returned to their areas after the incident.

He said China had every intent to block the supply mission, dismissing claims that the Chinese Coast Guard had allowed one of the two Philippine boats to reach a Philippine outpost at Second Thomas Shoal.

Mr. Tarriela said the Chinese Coast Guard might have “intel on the ground.” “They might have an informant and that’s how they knew about our resupply operations.”

Philippine authorities have said Manila would never abandon the shoal and would continue its resupply missions within its exclusive economic zone.

Meanwhile, Mr. Tarriela hit Filipinos on social media whom he accused of spreading lies about a supposed deal with China for the Philippines to abandon its grounded World War II-era ship at Second Thomas Shoal.

“I’m not aware of any such arrangement or agreement that the Philippines will remove from its own territory its ship, in this case, the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal,” President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said last week, referring to Second Thomas Shoal.

“And let me go further, if there exists such an agreement, I rescind that agreement now.”

A handful of Filipino troops are stationed on a rusty World War II-era US ship that the Philippines intentionally grounded at the shoal in 1999 to assert its claims.

On Monday, the Chinese Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong urged the Philippines to meet China halfway through diplomatic talks and manage their sea dispute.

“China has repeatedly expressed its willingness to resolve differences with the Philippines through bilateral dialogues,” he told a forum organized by Filipino businessman Wilson Lee Flores.

“We hope that the Philippine side will abide by the existing consensus and cherish the hard-won situation in our bilateral relations,” Mr. Zhou said. “Meet the Chinese side halfway and find an effective way of managing the situation on the sea through diplomatic consultations.”

The Chinese official said Beijing had lodged “solemn representations immediately requesting the Philippine side to tow away” the BRP Sierra Madre. He added that the Philippines had agreed to remove the ship.

“The Philippine side also made explicit commitments to do so. The representations were put on record and are well documented,” Mr. Zhou said.

He said it’s been 24 years since BRP Sierra Madre was grounded at the shoal “and the Philippines side has yet to honor its commitment.” “The Chinese side, however, has always exerted the utmost restraint, with a view to maintaining relations with the Philippines and safeguarding regional peace and stability.”

The Philippines and China in 2021 held discussions to manage the dispute over the shoal, reaching a consensus for resupply missions to BRP Sierra Madre.

However, starting early this year, the Philippine government “refused to acknowledge and implement the existing consensus and started to take a series of unilateral actions,” Mr. Zhou said.

“To prevent any incidents from occurring, the Chinese side has lodged representations both in Beijing and Manila to the Philippine side, requesting the Philippines to return to the track of honoring the existing consensus and refrain from taking unilateral actions before any new understanding is reached between us,” he added.

The Philippines had insisted on transporting construction materials to the grounded vessel for overhaul and reinforcement “with the intent of permanently occupying Ren’ai Reef,” Mr. Zhou said, referring to the shoal’s Chinese name.

“The above is the cause of this incident,” he said, referring to the Aug. 5 incident where China’s coast guard fired water cannons at the Philippine vessels to block the resupply mission.

Mr. Zhou noted that under “temporary and special arrangements,” Beijing has allowed Manila to conduct resupply missions for troops stationed at Second Thomas Shoal by only bringing food and other daily necessities “out of humanitarian consideration.”

“The Chinese side has also made it clear that we are firmly against transportation of large-scale construction materials to the ground… with the purpose of permanent occupation through reinforcements,” he added.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Romeo Brawner, Jr. has said China was using its coast guard instead of its Navy force to harass Philippine vessels because “they want to act short of declaring war.”

He noted that the Chinese Coast Guard is not a civilian agency because it is under China’s Central Military Commission.

Mr. Brawner said the Philippines would deploy more ships and aircraft to secure Philippine waters in the South China Sea. The government might tap naval reservists and Filipino fisherfolk to help establish Philippine presence in the disputed water, he added. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza