The Philippines says its forces sailed to hotly disputed shoal guarded by China without any clashes

[Pelican Press 0]

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The Philippines says its forces sailed to hotly disputed shoal guarded by China without any clashes

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine government personnel transported food and other supplies Saturday to a

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occupied by a ********* navy contingent but closely guarded by Beijing’s forces in the

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and no confrontations were reported, Philippine officials said.

It was the first Philippine government supply trip to the Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the scene of increasingly violent confrontations between ******** and Philippine forces, since the

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a week ago to prevent clashes, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said in a statement.

“The lawful and routine rotation and resupply mission within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone is a credit to the professionalism of the men and women of the Philippine navy and the Philippine coast guard and the close coordination among the National Security Council, Department of National Defense and the Department of Foreign Affairs,” the Philippine Foreign Affairs Department said, without providing other details.

******** officials did not immediately issue any comment.

The deal was reached by the Philippines and China after a series of meetings between the two country’s diplomats in Manila and exchanges of diplomatic notes aimed to establish a mutually acceptable arrangement at the shoal — which Filipinos call Ayungin and the ******** call Ren’ai Jiao — without conceding either side’s territorial claims, Philippine officials said.

The deal has not been made public by either side.

The ******** coast guard and other forces have

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and dangerous blocking maneuvers to prevent food and other supplies from reaching ********* navy personnel at Manila’s outpost at the shoal, on a long-grounded and rusting warship, the BRP Sierra Madre.

In the worst confrontation, ******** forces on motorboats repeatedly rammed and then boarded two Philippine navy boats on June 17 to prevent ********* personnel from transferring food and other supplies, including firearms, to the ship outpost in the shallows of the shoal, according to the Philippine government. The ******** seized the Philippine navy boats and damaged them with machetes and improvised spears. They also

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, which were packed in cases, and other supplies. The violent faceoff wounded several ********* navy personnel, including one who lost his thumb, in a chaotic skirmish that was captured in video and photos that were later made public by Philippine officials.

China and the Philippines blamed each other for the confrontation and each asserted their own sovereign rights over the shoal.

The ******* States and its key ****** and Western allies, including Japan and Australia, condemned the ******** acts at the shoal and called for the rule of law and freedom of navigation to be upheld in the South China Sea, a key global trade route with rich fishing areas and undersea gas deposits.

In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have been locked in separate but increasingly tense territorial disputes in the waterway, which is regarded as a potential flashpoint and a delicate fault line in the U.S.-China regional rivalry. The U.S. military has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets for decades in what it calls freedom of navigation and overflight patrols, which China has opposed and regards as a threat to regional stability.

Washington has no territorial claims in the disputed waters but has repeatedly

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, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if ********* forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed *******, including in the South China Sea.

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