China Coast Guard thwarts Philippine illegal resupply attempt around Ren'ai Jiao: source

China on Friday urged the Philippines to immediately stop provocations and troublemaking after the Philippines on Thursday, disregarding China's warnings, sent a supply vessel to deliver supplies to the illegally "grounded" warship at China's Ren'ai Jiao, a China Coast Guard spokesperson said.

The Global Times learned that the Philippine resupply attempt had not received prior Chinese approval and therefore was illegal. Relevant experts told the Global Times that under the provisional arrangement reached between China and the Philippines for managing the situation at Ren'ai Jiao, resupply activities must be reported to China in advance and may proceed only with China's permission. If China does not accept such an operation, it may resolutely block it in accordance with laws and regulations.

In an official statement, the China Coast Guard said that on September 24 the Philippines broke its commitments and, despite China's warnings, dispatched a resupply vessel to deliver supplies to the illegally "grounded" vessel at Ren'ai Jiao.

A source familiar with the matter told the Global Times that the China Coast Guard's interception operation was conducted in accordance with laws and regulations and in a rational and restrained manner. After the China Coast Guard took measures including on-site tracking and monitoring and verbal warnings to the Philippine resupply vessel in waters relatively far from Ren'ai Jiao, the Philippine vessel involved in the illegal resupply operation withdrew. There was no intense confrontation between the two sides.

Philippine media outlets including ABS-CBN reported that the Philippine Coast Guard said on Friday that Chinese naval and coast guard vessels had prevented the Philippine resupply mission. The Philippine resupply vessel Lapu-Lapu, along with three supporting vessels from the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard, was intercepted by Chinese vessels about 60 nautical miles from China's Ren'ai Jiao.

The Global Times learned that the resupply operation the Philippines attempted to carry out had not received China's prior approval. According to the source, the Philippine resupply operation fell outside the provisional humanitarian arrangements made between China and the Philippines and was therefore illegal.

"In this so-called 'resupply operation,' China had already explicitly rejected the Philippine request in advance, but the Philippines nevertheless dispatched vessels and attempted to proceed by force. After encountering obstruction, it then hyped up the incident extensively. This fully demonstrates that the Philippines had ulterior motives in carrying out this 'resupply operation' at this time," Yang Xiao, a research fellow at the Institute for Peace and Development of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday.

In essence, it was an act of harassment and provocation, and China's refusal to allow it to proceed was entirely reasonable and justified, Yang said.

The Philippine side carried out provocative actions during a Chinese holiday and hyped up the incident, seriously violating the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and seriously undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea region. The China Coast Guard took measures against the Philippine supply vessel in accordance with the law, including on-site monitoring and verbal warnings.

The China Coast Guard will continue to carry out rights-protection and law-enforcement activities in the Nansha Qundao, including Ren'ai Jiao, and its adjacent waters in accordance with the law, and resolutely safeguard China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, said the spokesperson.