Philippines condemns Chinese boats' 'illegal' actions in South China Sea

MANILA : The Philippines condemned "illegal" actions by Chinese vessels on Friday after the boats allegedly interfered in another resupply mission to a remote military outpost in the disputed South China Sea.
Philippine Coast Guard vessels were escorting supply boats to Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands when they encountered Chinese coast guard and "militia" boats, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea said.
While the cargo was successfully delivered to the handful of Filipino troops stationed on a grounded navy ship, the task force said Chinese vessels had carried out "harassment, dangerous maneuvers, and aggressive conduct" towards the Philippine boats.
"The Task Force strongly deplores and condemns the continued illegal, aggressive, and destabilizing conduct of the CCG and the CMM within our nation's EEZ," said the task force, using the acronyms for the Chinese vessels and the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone.

China claims almost the entire waterway, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually, and has ignored an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
In a statement, the China Coast Guard spokesperson accused the Philippine boats of entering the waters around the reef "without obtaining permission from the Chinese government".
"The Chinese Coast Guard issued stern warnings, trailed their entire course, and effectively regulated the Philippine ships in accordance with the law," the spokesperson said.

"China ... firmly opposes the illegal transportation of construction materials by the Philippines to the illegal grounded warship."
Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and more than 1,000