Philippines rejects China's call for removing warship from disputed reef
08 Aug 2023 10:55am
The Spratly Islands in the South China Sea have become a disputed territory between China and several Asean member countries, including Malaysia. - AFP photo
Manila told Beijing that it will not abandon the disputed shoal in the South China Sea, accusing the Chinese coast guard of making "dangerous maneuvers” as well as targeting one of its ships with a laser, reported Anadolu Agency.
A senior Philippine National Security Council (NSC) official, Jonathan Malaya, said China's increased presence at the Second Thomas Shoal will not deter the Philippines' resolve to protect its position there.
Manila intentionally grounded the Second World War-era warship in 1999 to reinforce the Philippines' sovereignty claims.
"We will continue to resupply troops in the grounded vessel as long as it takes," Malaya said at a joint news conference with the military, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Philippine Foreign Ministry.
Beijing urged Manila to remove the warship while defending its coastguard’s actions as "professional and restrained."
It also claimed that the Philippine ships "disregarded China’s repeated dissuasion and warnings and attempted to transfer construction materials used for maintaining and repairing the ship, which has been grounded on the shoal illegally."
"The Chinese side urges the Philippines to tow away the grounded warship from the Renai Reef and restore the Renai Reef to its original state,” said a spokesman for China’s coast guard.
Manila earlier in the day summoned China's ambassador to strongly protest the actions of the Chinese Coast Guard.
The territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea remain highly contested, despite repeated calls for a negotiated settlement and avoiding breaches of sovereignty. -Bernama/Anadolu
