(Manila) The Philippines said Monday it had not abandoned a disputed reef in the South China Sea after a ship was pulled out following a standoff with China, which claims it.
“We have not lost anything,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela told a news conference, assuring that there will be a “presence” on the “Escoda Shoal,” also known as Sabina Reef, after the withdrawal announced Sunday of a Philippine ship that had been stationed there since April.
“We are just repositioning our ship” and “this does not mean that the coast guard vessels will no longer be deployed” there, Tarriela said.
Citing operational security concerns, he declined to provide further information.
The BRP Teresa Magbanua was anchored in the waters around the atoll to perform “sentinel duties,” according to the National Maritime Council of the Philippines, with the aim of asserting Manila’s claims to Beijing and preventing China from taking control.
Last month, Chinese ships blocked a resupply mission to Filipino sailors aboard the ship, causing severe shortages of food and other supplies.
Beijing “exercises indisputable sovereignty over […] “The reef is located in the Xianbin Jiao and its adjacent waters,” Chinese Coast Guard spokesman Liu Dejun said in a statement on Sunday, using the Chinese name for the reef.
Chinese and Philippine ships collided twice last month near Sabina Atoll, located 140 km west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 km from Hainan Island, the nearest Chinese landmass.
There have been numerous clashes in recent months between Beijing and Manila, which are disputing the sovereignty of several uninhabited reefs and islets in the South China Sea.
China claims sovereignty over almost all the islets in the South China Sea on historical grounds, ignoring an international court ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
Since Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos came to power in 2022, Manila has also been asserting more firmly its claims to sovereignty over some disputed reefs.