A Philippine re-supply ship evaded a Chinese coastguard blockade in the South China Sea today to reach Filipino soldiers based on a remote reef claimed by both countries, the military said.
The dramatic, two-hour stand-off witnessed by the AFP was the latest in a rapid-fire series of escalations in a dispute between the two countries over their competing claims to waters and islands close to Philippine landmass.
Today's incident took place at Second Thomas Shoal, where a small number of Filipino soldiers are stationed on a Navy vessel that was grounded there in 1999 to assert the Philippines' sovereignty.
The Philippine military said the ship, a fishing vessel with soldiers on board, completed its mission to deliver fresh supplies to the navy ship and rotate the troops.
"They were able to pass through. The Chinese coastguard vessel and the mission is a success," Cherryl Tindog, a spokeswoman for the military's western command, told AFP.
"We have successfully re-supplied and rotated the troops."
An AFP reporter and photographer recorded the two-hour confrontation above calm turquoise waters while on board a Philippine military plane that circled above the area throughout.
Four Chinese vessels had encircled Second Thomas Shoal as the Philippine vessel approached, according to the AFP reporter.
Two of the vessels, with a "Chinese Coast Guard" written on the hulls, then chased the Philippine boat and tried to block it from reaching the shoal.
The vessels appeared to get within a few hundred metres of each other, with one of the Chinese vessels sailing across the Filipino vessel's bow twice.
The supply vessel later managed to reach shallow waters around the shoal, where the Chinese ships, with much-larger displacements, could not follow without the risk of running aground.
During the confrontation, the Chinese vessels radioed the Philippine boat and demanded that it leave the "Chinese territory", local television stations reported, citing their journalists on board the Filipino boat.
The Philippines foreign affairs department denounced the Chinese coastguard action.
"We condemn the harassment by the Chinese coastguard of our civilian vessels which are on their way to Ayungin Shoal to resupply provisions to our personnel stationed there," it said in a statement, using the Filipino name for the outcrop.
"We demand that China cease taking actions that are a threat to our security.
