Chinese forces shadow Filipino navy ship near disputed shoal

MANILA: A Philippine navy patrol ship was shadowed by Chinese forces near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, sparking a fresh exchange of accusations and warnings between the Asian neighbors Tuesday.

Chinese and Philippine security officials gave conflicting accounts of Monday’s encounter near Scarborough Shoal. China has surrounded the shoal with its navy and coast guard ships since a tense standoff with Philippine vessels more than a decade ago.

A rich fishing atoll and a safe mooring area during storms, Scarborough off the northwestern Philippines coast is one of most fiercely contested territories in the South China Sea, where Chinese and Philippine forces have faced off in recent months.

The frequent confrontations, which led to an Oct. 22 collision of Chinese and Philippine vessels near another disputed shoal, have prompted the United States to repeatedly renew a warning that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea.

Chinese air force Col. Tian Junli, a spokesperson for the Southern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army, said a Philippine warship trespassed into what he said were Chinese waters around Scarborough Shoal on Monday and was “tracked, monitored, warned and restricted” by the Chinese navy and air force for seriously violating “China’s sovereignty and international law.”

“We urge the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringement and provocation to avoid further escalation,” he said in a statement. “The troops assigned to the PLA Southern Theater Command remain on high alert at all times to resolutely defend China’s national sovereignty and security and peace and stability in the South China Sea.”

Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo A o, however, said in Manila that the Philippine navy ship carried out a routine patrol of the waters in the vicinity of Scarborough “without any untoward incident.”