The Philippines insisted on Monday that it had not given up a disputed South China Sea reef, two days after it pulled out a ship stationed there following a months-long standoff with rival claimant China.
“We have not lost anything,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela told a news conference, vowing that “there will be a coast guard presence at Escoda Shoal” after the withdrawal of its flagship BRP Teresa Magbanua from the reef, known internationally as Sabina Shoal.
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea despite an international tribunal ruling that its assertions have no merit, and it has acted aggressively against Philippine government vessels at Sabina Shoal and other disputed features in the strategic waterway.
Recent months have seen Chinese sailors ram, block, water-cannon and even board Philippine vessels, causing damage and injuries.
Manila had deployed the BRP Teresa Magbanua in April to stop Beijing from reclaiming Sabina Shoal, but pulled it out after four crew members got sick, and after the ship was damaged in a collision with a Chinese vessel.
Tarriela rejected comparisons to events at Scarborough Shoal, which Manila lost to Beijing after a similar months-long standoff in 2012.
He said Sabina was much larger than Scarborough and insisted China would be unable to stop the Philippines from sending patrols around the 137-square-kilometre (53-square-mile) feature.
“It’s not a defeat,” Tarriela said, disputing suggestions the coast guard was “abandoning our post” at the shoal.
“We are just repositioning our vessel,” he said. “It doesn’t mean that coast guard vessels will no longer be deployed there.”
Citing operational security, he would not say how soon the Philippines could send another vessel to the area.
