Philippines redeploys boats to shoal after Chinese blockade
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military defiantly redeployed two supply boats on Monday to provide food to Filipino marines guarding a disputed shoal in the South China Sea after the Chinese coast guard used water cannons to forcibly turn the boats away in an assault last week that drew angry condemnation and warnings from Manila.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the two civilian wooden-hulled boats carrying navy personnel left western Palawan province and should reach the marines stationed on a navy ship at Second Thomas Shoal after an overnight trip. Lorenzana said the boats aren't being escorted by the navy or coast guard in accordance with a request by China’s ambassador to Manila, who, he said, assured him in talks over the weekend that the boats would not be blocked again.
A navy plane will nevertheless fly over the remote shoal, which has been surrounded by Chinese surveillance ships in a years-long territorial standoff, when the Filipino boats reach it, the defense chief said. The Philippines says the shoal is in its internationally recognized exclusive economic zone, but China insists it has sovereignty over the waters.
“The Chinese ambassador assured me they will not be impeded but they requested there should be no escort,” Lorenzana told reporters. Asked if he expects that the vessels won’t be blocked, he replied, “We will see.”
The government conveyed its “outrage, condemnation and protest of the incident” to China after two Chinese coast guard ships blocked the two Filipino boats on Tuesday and a third coast guard ship sprayed high-pressure streams of water on the boats, which were forced to abort their mission to transport food to the marines guarding the shoal, officials said.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. ordered...