Could a rusty World War II ship deliberately stranded by the Philippines on an atoll in the South China Sea in 1999 trigger a war between Beijing and Manila and involve Washington? The answer is yes. So Saturday’s incident, when the Chinese Coast Guard stopped a Philippine supply vessel from arriving on the scene, set alarm bells ringing.
O BRP Sierra Madrehundred meters long, started its life as USS LST-821an American amphibious tank landing craft that operated in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. renamed USS Harnet County, and changed to become a US helicopter base, was later called up to participate in the Vietnam War. According to the US Naval Institute; would eventually be handed over to South Vietnam’s allies and the RVNS My Thowho helped evacuate some 3,000 refugees when Saigon fell.
The destination was the Philippines, which the communist government of Hanoi had already recognized, so the ship was only allowed to dock under the American flag and with the promise that it would be handed over to Philippine control. Before they were baptized with the name of a mountain range in the country, the Sierra Madre was still the BRP Dumagatewhich until its current mission has served for amphibious transport.
The ship was deliberately grounded in 1999 to serve as a base for a group of Filipino soldiers to claim Manila’s sovereignty over the Second Thomas Shoal (known to the Filipinos as Ayungin and the Chinese as Ren’ai) ., while at the same time holding back the Chinese – who had occupied a nearby reef in 1995. This atoll, which is completely submerged at high tide, is located 200 kilometers from the Philippine island of Padawan and more than 1,000 kilometers from China’s southernmost point, Hainan Island.
The shoal belongs to the Spratly Islands, an archipelago of more than 750 islets and atolls also disputed (in whole or in part) by Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. Only the latter has no physical presence in the archipelago, with China militarizing several islands to assert its territorial claim. Manila has made more than 400 diplomatic complaints to Beijing since 2020 about what it calls Chinese “illegal activity” in the area.
Beijing claims sovereignty over about 90% of the South China Sea (or South Sea), one of the world’s most important waterways, through which a third of the world’s trade passes and half of the planet’s fishing vessels. In 2016, a court in The Hague ruled that the Chinese had no legal basis for their territorial claims. But they ignored that decision and increased their presence in the region. Americans regularly conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the area under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Saturday’s incident comes as the Philippines strengthens ties with the US. During Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency, Manila moved closer to Beijing, but the rise of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in June 2022, the situation changed, with the rapprochement with Washington – and the availability of four new bases for the US military. The two countries have had a mutual defense treaty since 1951, which can be triggered in the event of an attack on Philippine ships anywhere in the Pacific.
Manila accused the Chinese Coast Guard of violating international law by blocking the passage of one of the supply ships responsible for bringing food, water and fuel to the soldiers stationed in the Sierra Madre, even using water cannons (they had already done that in 2021). ).
Beijing, for its part, accused the Filipinos of wanting to provide building materials to repair the rusty ship, claiming that Manila had repeatedly promised to tow it. “24 years later, the Philippines not only failed to tow the warship, but attempted to repair and strengthen it on a large scale to allow for a permanent occupation of Ren’ai Reef.” said a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“We will never abandon Ayugin”, replied the Filipinos, who called the Chinese ambassador for consultation, as they were unable to contact Beijing during the incident. The US, European Union, Australia and Japan expressed support for the Philippines and expressed concern over the Chinese actions. Washington, which considers Beijing the greatest threat to its national security, also recalled that any armed attack on the Philippines could trigger the Mutual Defense Treaty.
Source: DN
