(GMA News) The United States has backed the Philippines’ series of protests against provocative Chinese actions in the West Philippine Sea, where China blocked Filipino resupply missions and sent 200 of its militia vessels to swarm a reef within the country’s waters.
“We share the Philippines’ concerns regarding the PRC’s provocative actions interfering with Philippine sovereign rights within the Philippine exclusive economic zone near Second Thomas Shoal and massing vessels near Whitsun Reef,” US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement on June 17. PRC stands for People’s Republic of China.
“The United States supports the Philippines in calling on the PRC to end its provocative actions and to respect international law in the South China Sea.”
Last week, the Department of Foreign Affairs accused China of illegal fishing and preventing Philippine vessels on a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) by using fishing nets and buoys.
A Philippine Naval vessel – the BRP Sierra Madre – has been grounded at Ayungin Shoal since 1999. The ship manned by more than a dozen Marines and sailors has become a symbol of Philippine sovereignty in the offshore territory. It is 105.77 nautical miles from the nearest Philippine province of Palawan and constitutes part of the country’s 200-nautical mile continental shelf as provided under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea… Read More
