The Philippines has opened a new coast guard station in a remote corner of the South China Sea. The outpost is said to be equipped with cutting-edge equipment to help it monitor the movements of Chinese forces that seek to challenge its control.
Located on Thitu Island in the hotly disputed Spratly Islands archipelago, the station is on the front lines of a clash of territorial claims between Manila and Beijing. The Chinese government asserts ownership over most of the energy-rich sea and its many features, and continues to test the U.S. treaty ally’s resolve to stand up for its rights within its exclusive economic zone.
Thitu, administered by the province of Palawan some 300 miles to the east, is one of several Philippine-controlled territories in the area facing increased pressure from China. Another is Second Thomas Shoal, around which constant Chinese maritime patrols—involved in standoffs, collisions and near misses—seek to dislodge a handful of Filipino marines stationed there.
Philippine Coast Guard
Eduardo Ano, the Philippines’ national security adviser, said the country needed a holistic response to counter China’s multi-pronged challenge, which he said included propaganda operations meant to foster division within Philippine society, according to a readout of his remarks at the inauguration of the complex on December 1.
The new station will boost Manila’s maritime awareness in the region thanks to technologies such as radar, automatic identification, satellite communication and a coastal camera system, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
A previous outpost on Thitu was destroyed in December 2021 by Typhoon Rai one month after completion. Only the flag pole and remnants of the Philippine flag remained.
“This building is indeed very symbolic for me. This symbolizes the PCG’s enduring commitment to keep on improving in doing our share in our nation’s collective action to secure our territories and jurisdiction, to keep what is ours according to the law,” Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan said at the ceremony.
Chinese state newspaper the Global Times on Sunday took aim at the new outpost, citing unnamed Chinese analysts who said it would be used to consolidate the Philippines’ “illegal control” of Thitu, as well as to “cater to the interests of the U.S. in the region.”
The PCG and the Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army did not immediately respond to separate requests for comment by Newsweek.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Scott/U.S. Navy
Thitu is known as Pag-asa in the Philippines and Zhongye in China. It is the second-largest naturally occurring feature in the Spratlys and the only one with a permanent civilian population—193 people as of Manila’s 2020 census.
The station’s entry into service coincides with mounting tensions between various interested parties in the contested archipelago, one of four island groups around which China has unilaterally established exclusive maritime zones.
This week, Manila said it had counted more than 135 Chinese maritime militia ships anchored at the unoccupied Whitsun Reef, also in the Spratlys in the Philippines’ internationally recognized fishing waters. Researchers who analysed images of the purported fishing boats—”rafted” together to form a chain in the sea—said it was one of Beijing’s so-called “gray zone” tactics to gradually achieve de facto control over the area through a quasi-permanent vessel presence.
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the boats were legally sheltering from rough weather within Chinese waters.
Beijing’s assertive moves in the South China Sea have hardened attitudes among the Philippine public, too. The government of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has approved coast guard and naval escorts for an upcoming a civilian-led “Christmas convoy” hoping to bring supplies and encouragement to front-line troops in the Spratlys.
The three-day journey, set to begin on December 10, could put Filipino volunteers in a direct confrontation with China’s coast guard and paramilitary ships, which have sought to harass and block previous official resupply missions.
Washington, meanwhile, has reaffirm the long-standing U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, which pledges an American military response to any attack on Manila’s vessel or personnel, including those of its coast guard, in the South China Sea.
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