The Philippine Navy tank landing ship BRP Sierra Madre at Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, July 27, 2023. The ship was deliberately grounded on the shoal in 1999 and has since remained there as a forward outpost to support Manila's territorial claim in the area. Armed Forces of the Philippines
Coast Guard

China complains Philippines sent supplies to warship at disputed atoll

Reuters

China's coast guard said on Thursday it "had allowed" a Philippine civilian vessel to deliver provisions to a warship "illegally grounded" at the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed atoll in the South China Sea.

The coast guard questioned and monitored the Philippine vessel throughout its supply mission, it said in a statement, urging the Philippines to work with China to manage the maritime situation.

The Philippine embassy in Beijing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China and the Philippines have traded barbs for months over manoeuvres at Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll within Manila's 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, despite overlapping claims by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

A 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal said Beijing's claims, based on its historic maps, have no basis under international law, a decision China does not recognise.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom Editing by Bernadette Baum)