Philippines to resupply ship on South China Sea shoal without US help By Reuters

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines will resupply a beached naval ship in the South China Sea with food and provisions on its own, despite an offer from the United States for help, Manila security officials said on Sunday.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday the U.S. “will do what is necessary” to ensure its treaty ally can resupply the Sierra Madre on the Second Thomas Shoal.

Manila deliberately beached the Philippine naval ship in 1999 to reinforce its claims over disputed waters around the shoal and has since maintained a small contingent of sailors.

Sullivan’s Filipino counterpart, Eduardo Ano, said on Sunday the resupply will remain “a pure Philippine operation”.

“There is no need at this time for any direct involvement of U.S. forces in RORE (resupply) mission,” Ano said in a statement, although the Philippines appreciates U.S. support.

Reuters previously reported the Philippines turned down offers from the United States to assist its operations in the South China Sea.

Tensions in the disputed waterway have boiled over into violence in the past year, with a Filipino soldier losing a finger last month in a clash that Manila described as an “intentional-high speed ramming” by the China Coast Guard.

The Philippine military’s spokesperson said in a separate statement on Sunday the Philippines “will exhaust all means before seeking foreign intervention” in its resupply missions.

Manila and Washington are bound by the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, a pact that can be invoked in case of an armed attack against Philippine forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea. U.S. officials including President Joe Biden have affirmed its “ironclad” commitment to aid the Philippines.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, overlapping maritime claims of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. In 2016, a Hague-based tribunal said China’s claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected.