MANILA: A wrecked navy transport ship perched on a remote coral reef could be the next flashpoint in the South China Sea, where China and five other claimants dispute territory.
The Philippines is accusing China of encroachment after three Chinese ships, including a naval frigate, converged five nautical miles from an old transport ship that Manila ran aground on a reef in 1999 to mark its territory.
Manila says it fears Chinese ships will block supplies to about a dozen Filipino marines on the rusting ship, raising tensions over one of Asia’s biggest security issues.
The area, known as Second Thomas Shoal, is a strategic gateway to Reed Bank, believed to be rich in oil and natural gas. In 2010, Manila awarded an Anglo-Filipino consortium a licence to explore gas but drilling stalled last year due to the presence of Chinese ships.
Manila says Reed Bank, about 80 nautical miles west of Palawan island at the southwestern end of the Philippine archipelago, is within the country’s 200-nautical mile economic zone.
Beijing says it is part of the Spratlys, a group of 250 uninhabitable islets spread over 165,000 square miles, claimed entirely by China, Taiwan and Vietnam and in part by Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.
“China should pull out of the area because under international law, they do not have the right to be there,” said the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, noting the area’s proximity to Palawan, the country’s largest province. It said Chinese ships were a “provocation and illegal presence”. Agencies
