Philippines withdraws from disputed reef in South China Sea

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

The Philippines has withdrawn a coastguard ship keeping watch over a disputed reef after a months-long stand-off with China.

The Teresa Magbanua, Manila’s largest coastguard vessel, returned to port on Sunday from Sabina Shoal after blocking and ramming by the Chinese coastguard left the crew dehydrated and malnourished and the ship damaged, Philippine officials said. Manila said it would replace the ship at Sabina.

The situation will test the effectiveness of the coercion measures of Beijing’s coastguard as well as China’s willingness to de-escalate tensions with its neighbour over the South China Sea. Beijing claims almost the entire sea, including waters over which international law gives Manila exclusive economic rights.

Sabina Shoal had become the latest flashpoint between the two after the Philippines deployed the Teresa Magbanua to the reef in April to guard against potential Chinese attempts to seize it. In July, China sent a much larger coastguard ship, which has since blocked Manila’s efforts to resupply the crew and repeatedly rammed the Philippine ship.

Observers said Manila’s move raised concern of a repeat of Beijing’s seizure of Scarborough Shoal, a larger disputed reef to the north, in 2012.

At that time, Chinese ships used the withdrawal of Philippine vessels due to rough seas to occupy the lagoon inside the ring-shaped reef and deny Philippine fishers access.

Regional security officials and maritime experts still frequently cite the incident as a failure by the US to help its treaty ally and other South China Sea claimants counter China’s creeping expansionism.

A 2016 ruling in an international arbitration case initiated by the Philippines found China’s extensive claims to the area unlawful. As a low-tide elevation within 200 nautical miles of the Philippine coast, Sabina Shoal is part of the sea floor over which Manila has exclusive economic rights under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Manila’s withdrawal follows bilateral diplomatic consultations with China on the dispute on Thursday, but a senior Philippine official said the ship’s return to port was not part of a compromise with Beijing.

China’s coastguard, which has been calling the Philippine ship’s presence “illegal”, on Sunday reiterated its claim that it had “indisputable sovereignty” over the reef.

Spokesperson Liu Dejun said repeated Philippine attempts at “forced resupply missions all failed” due to Chinese “control measures”. He added that China’s coastguard would continue “rights protection law enforcement activities in waters under China’s jurisdiction”.

The Philippines’ National Maritime Council, a new body Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr set up this year to enhance maritime security, said another ship would “immediately take over” at Sabina Shoal. But ship tracking data did not show any Philippine coastguard presence at the reef after the Teresa Magbanua left on Saturday.

NMC executive secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement: “After she has been resupplied and repaired, and her crew recharged [the Tereas Magbanua] will be in tip-top shape to resume her mission.”

Jay Tarriela, coastguard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea — Manila’s name for the South China Sea — said the ship had been forced to return to port due to bad weather conditions, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate crew members for medical care.

“This has been further complicated by the structural damage to the vessel resulting from the deliberate ramming by the China Coast Guard,” he said on X.

A US defence official said Washington was “deeply concerned” by China’s “dangerous and escalatory actions” at Sabina Shoal. Speaking from Beijing following meetings with his Chinese counterparts, he said he had stressed that the US would “do what’s necessary to support the Philippines” and reminded him that the US defence treaty with Manila applied to the Sabina Shoal.

Asked if the US was concerned that the departure of the Teresa Magbanua could result in a similar outcome to 2012, he said the Pentagon was “watching further developments there very closely”.

“If PRC [People’s Republic of China] escalation continues, this area is going to continue to be a priority issue for us in the coming months,” the official said.