China, Philippines agree on 'provisional arrangement' for South China Sea resupply missions, Manila says

MANILA — The Philippines and China have "reached an understanding on the provisional arrangement" for resupply missions to a beached naval ship in the South China Sea, Manila's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on July 21.

The ministry did not provide details on the arrangement for the Philippines' resupply missions to the Sierra Madre on the Second Thomas Shoal.

But it said this followed "frank and constructive discussions" between the two sides at the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism earlier in July.

"Both sides continue to recognise the need to de-escalate the situation in the South China Sea and manage differences through dialogue and consultation, and agree that the agreement will not prejudice each other's positions in the South China Sea," the ministry said.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Manila deliberately beached the Philippine naval ship in 1999 to reinforce its claims over disputed waters around the shoal, and it has since maintained a small contingent of sailors there.

Philippine security officials also said on July 21 that it would carry out the resupply missions on its own despite an offer from the United States to help.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on July 19 that the US "will do what is necessary" to ensure its treaty ally can resupply the Sierra Madre on the Second Thomas Shoal.

Sullivan's Filipino counterpart Eduardo Ano said the resupply would remain "a pure Philippine operation".

"There is no need at this time for any direct involvement of US forces in (the resupply) mission," Ano said in a statement.

Tensions in the disputed waterway have boiled over into violence in the past year, with a Filipino soldier losing a finger in June in a clash that Manila described as "intentional high-speed ramming" by the China Coast Guard.

The Philippine military's spokesperson said in a separate statement on July 21 that the country "will exhaust all means before seeking foreign intervention" in its resupply missions.

Manila and Washington are bound by the 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty, a pact that can be invoked in case of an armed attack against Philippine forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea.

US officials, including President Joe Biden, have affirmed its "ironclad" commitment to aid the Philippines.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite overlapping maritime claims of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. In 2016, a Hague-based tribunal said China's claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected.

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