MANILA, Philippines—Chinese coast guard ships are ordering a Philippine civilian ship off the Ayungin Shoal in the Spratly Islands, Philippines Daily Inquirer’s Nikko Dizon reported Saturday afternoon.
“Chinese coast guards are now harassing us. They are blowing their horns, ordering us out of the area, saying we are conducting an illegal operation,’’ Dizon said in a hurried phone call to the Inquirer news desk shortly before 2 p.m. Saturday.
Dizon and Inquirer photographer Grig Montegrande are on board a civilian ship bringing supplies to Philippine soldiers stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre that has been grounded at the Ayungin Shoal, an area within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, but which China claims as its own.
Dizon said one of two Chinese vessels blocking them was marked with number 3401 on its bow.“We can see the Sierra Madre now but they (Chinese) are stopping us,” Dizon said.
Dizon said Lt. Ferdinand Gato was in charge of delivering the food and other supplies to the Philippine soldiers.
The ship slipped past a Chinese coast guard blockade and brought food and fresh troops to the marooned navy ship used as a base by Filipino troops to bolster the country’s territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, the Associated Press reported.
It was a rare close-up look at the tensions in the waters and the determination of both sides to press their claims. China’s growing assertiveness is alarming smaller nations that have competing territorial claims and worrying the United States, which is neutral in the disputes but jockeying for influence with Beijing in the region.
Around one hour away from Second Thomas Shoal, where the detachment is based, a Chinese coast guard ship marked “1141″ twice crossed the bow of the smaller Philippine vessel in an attempt to stop it from proceeding. Another tailed the Filipino boat.
The Chinese radioed the Filipinos, telling them to stop. “You will take full responsibility for the consequences of your action,” the voice said in English.
“This is the Republic of the Philippines,” Philippine navy Lt. Ferdinand Gato, who was in charge of the supply mission, replied. “We are here to provision the troops.”
The marines on board the supply boat waved the “V” for peace sign toward the Chinese vessel.
The Filipino captain maneuvered his vessel to shallow waters where the Chinese ships couldn’t sail to reach the marooned vessel, BRP Sierra Madre, which has become an awkward symbol of Philippine sovereignty in the remote offshore territory.
On March 9, Chinese vessels blocked a resupply mission to the shoal, called Ayungin by the Philippines
Philippine air force planes have airdropped live-saving food and water at least twice since then.
The cat-and-mouse-like confrontation was witnessed by Associated Press journalists and more than a dozen other media members who were allowed by the Philippine military to board the government vessel to show what the Manila government has said was “China’s bullying” in the disputed waters.
As they approached the shoal, one of the marines raised the Philippine flag on the supply ship. Once inside the shoal, the marines and the crew applauded and exchanged high-fives. Journalists said a plane with U.S. Navy markings also flew above the marooned ship.
“Our policy is maximum tolerance,” Gato said. “I will not let them stop us because our marines will starve.”
The supply ship carried about 10 tons of food, including rice and canned goods, and water, Gato said. The provisions were placed in sacks and transferred to the marooned ship using ropes pulled with pulleys. The two vessels were surrounded by the calm turquoise waters of the shoal under the blazing sun.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea. The two countries were in a two-month standoff at the Scarborough Shoal to the north, which the Chinese eventually occupied after Philippine ships left the area because of a storm in 2012.
The Philippines has questioned China’s claims before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims over the territory, which is believe to be rich in oil and gas and is also a major shipping lane.
