Philippine Marines, Nationwide Law enforcement officials and Coast Guard members landed on three contested South China Sea options at this time to claim Manila’s maritime jurisdiction following the same China Coast Guard motion earlier this month.
In mid-April, a China Coast Guard group landed at Sandy Cay—identified to China as Tiexian Reef—and displayed a Chinese language flag in an assertion of Beijing’s “maritime management” and “sovereign jurisdiction” over the sandbar. Manila’s largest South China Sea possession, Thitu Island, additionally identified by the Philippines as Pagasa, lies just a few nautical miles east of Sandy Cay.
The inter-agency maritime operation deployed from Thitu on Sunday morning. Cut up amongst 4 groups on a number of rubber boats, two groups deployed to Sandy Cay 1, whereas the opposite two deployed to Sandy Cay 2 and three, respectively. China Coast Guard cutter 5102 and 7 maritime militia vessels had been close to the sandbars throughout the operation.
A Nationwide Activity Power on the West Philippine Sea assertion claimed that the mission strengthened “Philippine authorities’ routine and lawful train of maritime area consciousness and jurisdiction over the West Philippine Sea.”
Assertion of the Nationwide Activity Power West Philippine Sea27 April 2025 | Manila, Philippines
An Inter-Company Maritime Operation (IAMO) at Pag-asa Cay 1, Cay 2, and Cay 3 and its surrounding waters was accomplished this morning, 27 April 2025. This coordinated effort concerned the… pic.twitter.com/Rqtnwsut2Z
— Jay Tarriela (@jaytaryela) April 27, 2025
A China Coast Guard assertion in response to the Sunday morning landings claimed that Chinese language officers “boarded the reef to confirm and deal with the state of affairs in accordance with the legislation.” No confrontation between Chinese language and Philippine Coast Guard personnel was seen in Manila’s media protection of the mission.
“We urge the Philippines to stop its infringements instantly. The CCG will proceed to guard China’s rights and perform legislation enforcement actions inside China’s jurisdictional waters,” said China Coast Guard spokesperson Liu Dejun.
A earlier confrontation at Sandy Cay occurred in January when Chinese language forces blocked a Philippine scientific mission to the sandbars. The incident concerned a Folks’s Liberation Military Navy helicopter using its downwash to disrupt the analysis group from reaching Sandy Cay.
This newest spat between Manila and Beijing comes amid the newest U.S.-Philippine Balikatan train, a sequence of navy drills throughout the Southeast Asian archipelago which have elevated in measurement, depth and complexity lately because of regional tensions within the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. Final 12 months’s iteration noticed the first-ever Balikatan drill to happen on a Philippine South China Sea outpost at Patag Island.
Amongst 2025’s actions are a Multilateral Maritime Occasion within the West Philippine Sea, an space of the South China Sea that Manila designates below its unique financial zone. A gaggle of U.S., Philippine and Japanese vessels has been conducting drills instantly east of Scarborough Shoal, one other disputed characteristic with China, since final Thursday. These vessels embody USS Savannah (LCS 28), USS Comstock (LSD 45), BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS16), BRP Apolinario Mabini (PS36), BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV 8301) and JS Yahagi (FFM 5). Manila beforehand carried out a maritime patrol close to Scarborough with Apolinario Mabini (PS 36) that drew condemnation from Beijing.
