News Mania Desk/ Piyal Chatterjee / 15th September 2024
The maritime council announced on Sunday that the Philippines is returning a coast guard vessel that was anchored in the disputed Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea to port following a five-month deployment as part of its mandate.
The coast guard ship Teresa Magbanua has been stationed in the area since April to keep an eye on what Manila believes to be China’s small-scale reclamation efforts. Beijing is enraged by its presence, which has made the shoal the most recent hotspot in the disputed waters.
Teresa Magbauna’s return, according to Bersamin, was required for her crew’s medical needs as well as maintenance.The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The action came after high-level negotiations between Beijing and Manila in China last week, during which China maintained its demand that the warship be removed and the Philippines reaffirmed its stance on Sabina.Situated within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, the region is known as Escoda Shoal in the Philippines and as Xianbin Reef in China. It is situated 150 km (93 miles) west of the province of Palawan in the Philippines.
In a series of confrontations in Sabina last month, Manila and Beijing have exchanged charges of purposeful vessel ramming, just after agreeing to resupply missions to a beached Filipino naval ship in the Second Thomas Shoal. Over the majority of the China Sea, which includes the maritime zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam, China asserts its sovereignty.
Beijing disagrees with the Hague arbitration tribunal’s 2016 decision to nullify China’s extensive and long-standing claims.
