Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Samuel Paparo told reporters on the sidelines of a military forum in Manila on Aug. 27 that a U.S. escort of Philippine vessels during a future resupply mission in the South China Sea was a “reasonable option.”
The remarks come the day after Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) used 40 vessels to illegally block a critical humanitarian resupply mission of the BRP Teresa Magbanua patrol vessel in the Escoda Shoal on Monday.
This included six Chinese Coast Guard vessels, three People’s Liberation Army Navy warships, and 31 Chinese Maritime Militia vessels deployed to block the BRP Cabra and BRP Cape Engaño from delivering “vital food and supplies” to the 10 crewmen staffed on a long-term mission in the Escoda Shoal, an atoll in the Spratly Islands.
“Such actions resulted in our two 44-meter Multi-Role Response Vessels (MRRV) being unable to safely deliver essential supplies,” Tarriela stated in an X post accompanied by video showing Philippine ships blocked from moving forward. “We urge the China Coast Guard to abide with the international law and stop deploying maritime forces that could undermine mutual respect, a universally recognized foundation for responsible and friendly relations among Coast Guards.”
The Spratly Islands are disputed territory, but international law designates the 200 nautical miles off the coast of a nation as its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and the Escoda Shoal falls within the Philippines’ EEZ. A 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in The Hague also found that the CCP had no legal basis for its territorial claims of the South China Sea. Despite this, the CCP passed a domestic law it claims gives its coast guard the authority to detain foreigners it views as trespassers and has amped up aggression in the area.
This is the latest in a string of provocations by the CCP in the South China Sea in recent weeks. In the Escoda Shoal alone, there have been six incidents in about a month, including a Chinese coast guard ship ramming into a Philippine vessel hard enough to break a 1.5-meter hole in the hull and firing water cannons at a cornered vessel. This all comes after the CCP had told Philippine officials in July it would agree not to interfere with resupply missions in the Second Thomas Shoal after skirmishes escalated into fights between crews with weapons in June.
According to the U.S. Naval Institute, large Chinese warships have also recently been spotted in the area.
The CCP defended its actions as “control measures” to uphold domestic law that claims the territory as its own.
“This is not a law enforcement security measure. This is purely harassment carried out by the Chinese Coast Guard that is unprofessional, illegal, unlawful,” Tarriela told a local media outlet. He added that the resupply mission was humanitarian, not military. He also reiterated that the Philippines would not leave the Escoda Shoal. Doing so would effectively cede the area to the Chinese military, giving the CCP a strategic advantage not only over the Philippines but also allies like the United States.
“The commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard has made it very clear, we’re not going to withdraw our forces that would allow China to permanently occupy it,” said Tarriela.
Reuters contributed to this report.