PH ship ends watch on flashpoint reef

A PHILIPPINE Coast Guard (PCG) vessel that spent five months anchored at the disputed Escoda Shoal in the South China Sea has left the area, Philippine officials said Sunday.

The BRP Teresa Magbanua had been anchored inside the shoal since April to assert Manila's claims to the area and prevent China from seizing it.

Beijing has continued to press its claims to almost the entire South China Sea despite an international tribunal ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

BACK TO PORT This handout photo from the Philippine Coast Guard taken and received on Sept. 15, 2024, shows the BRP Teresa Magbanua as it arrives at a port in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. AFP PHOTO

Philippine and Chinese vessels have collided at least three times recently near Escoda, located 140 kilometers from Palawan and 1,200 kilometers from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan Island.

On August 31, a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel «carried out a dangerous maneuver,» ramming the port bow of the Teresa Magbanua, according to the PCG.

The ship's bridge wing and freeboard were damaged in one of the collisions.

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«During her deployment… she challenged an encirclement by a larger flotilla of intruders, battled inclement weather, with her crew surviving on diminished daily provisions,» Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who is also chairman of National Maritime Council, said in a statement Sunday.

Last month, Chinese vessels blocked a resupply mission for the Filipino sailors on board the ship, leaving them running critically low on food and other provisions.

The Teresa Magbanua «carried out her sentinel duties against overwhelming odds,» Bersamin added.

China's coast guard noted the ship's withdrawal on Sunday and said Beijing «has indisputable sovereignty over… Xianbin Jiao and its adjacent waters,» using the Chinese name for Sabina Shoal.

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Manila's actions had «seriously infringed on China's territorial sovereignty… seriously undermining regional peace and stability,» spokesman Liu Dejun said in a statement.

«We sternly warn the Philippines to stop inciting propaganda and risking infringements and to meet China halfway to safeguard the seriousness and validity of the