Chinese vessels have withdrawn down from a Philippine-occupied atoll in the South China Sea
after forcing a quasi-blockade that provoked strong responses from Manila and Washington.
A formal diplomatic protest from the Philippine government was sent to the Chinese side.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana Lorenzana said he and Beijing's envoy in Manila,
Huang Xilian had been in contact since November 16, when three white hull China Coast Guard ships
stopped two wooden supply boats from delivering food and other provisions to Philippine troops
stationed on Second Thomas Shoal—part of the disputed Spratly Islands archipelago.
Philippine leaders said China's ships used water cannons in the clash.
In this video Defense Updates analyzes
how U.S & Philippines warnings made China backs down in the South China Sea?
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A small contingent of the Philippine Marine Corps has occupied the atoll,
known in the Philippines as Ayungin Shoal since its navy deliberately grounded World War
II landing vessel BRP Sierra Madre to serve as an outpost in 1999.
As per the Philippines, the shoal falls within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Eight Philippine Marines are stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre.
The shoal is 40 kilometers or 25 miles from Mischief Reef,
which the Chinese occupied in 1994 and where it built huge facilities in 2013 and 2014.
Last Thursday, two days after the water cannon incident, Philippine Foreign Secretary
Teodoro Locsin Jr. released a statement accusing one of the Chinese government vessels
of firing a water cannon at the Philippine boats, forcing them to cancel their resupply mission.
The defense chief had said at that time that the boats would return at
an unspecified time this week, without additional naval or coast guard escorts.
The official warned Beijing by invoking the Philippines-United States Mutual Defense Treaty,
under which Washington has pledged to defend Philippine vessels
from attacks in the contested South China Sea.
Philippines was supported on Friday by the U.S. State Department, which released a statement
calling the Chinese actions an "escalation that directly threatens regional peace and stability,
escalates regional tensions, infringes upon freedom of navigation in the South China Sea."
The Biden administration also reaffirmed its defense treaty commitments with Manila.
The Inquirer quoted Lorenzana as saying,
"They have no right to impede, prevent or harass our ships within our EEZ
whether we are fishing or bringing supplies to our detachment in the Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal"
Lorenzana has stated that the Philippine boats
harassed by China on their way to deliver supplies to Filipino troops had been harassed again
but were able to complete their mission, reaching Shoal on Tuesday.
Lorenzana said there was a Chinese Coast Guard ship in the vicinity that sent a rubber boat with
three persons near the Sierra Madre while Filipino boats were unloading and took photos and videos.
This can be seen as a face-saver from the Chinese side.
Viewers may note that China has often used the People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia
to scare away fishing boats from other nations.
The People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia
is essentially an extension of the People's Liberation Army Navy.
While created much earlier, China’s 2013 defense white paper
enhanced the maritime militia’s role in asserting sovereignty and backing up military operations.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian
has asked the Philippine side to honor its commitment and remove its grounded vessel.
China claims almost 90% of the South China Sea through its so-called nine-dash line map.
It says that it has "indisputable sovereignty" over the sea.
This is not the first time, China is trying to encroach.
After Chinese vessels blockaded Philippine boats and seized control of Scarborough Shoal in 2012,
Manila took Beijing to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague
in the case known as the Philippines v. China.
The three-year legal proceedings resulted in a win for the Philippines,
with arbitrators determining that China's claims had no legal basis
under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. China rejected the ruling in full.
It is to be noted here that during that time the U.S. choose not to intervene.
A new Chinese law has come into effect recently which allows the Chinese Coast Guard or
CCG to use weapons against foreign ships that it sees as illegally entering its waters.
With this law, China's coast guard could use water cannons,
handcuffs, and tear gas although the use of more lethal weapons is not explicitly ruled out.
Notably, China has reorganized its coast guard in recent years
and it has been transformed into a military-like organization under the centralized command of the
Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and the Central Military Commission.
Also, the US Department of Defense report of 2020 indicates that China has more than
doubled the number of large coast guard ships over 1,000 tons, from about 60 in 2010 to over 130.
While Chinese intentions are clear, it remains to be seen how the Philippines
holds its ground with American support.