Second Thomas Shoal: China's bid to dislodge the Philippines
Dozens of Chinese ships descended on Second Thomas Shoal Friday because Beijing was probing what it sees as a weak link in the Philippines’ presence in the strategic South China Sea, according to analysts.
The showdown took place as five Philippine ships, en route to resupply the Philippine marines stationed at the World War II-era tank landing ship the BRP Sierra Madre, were intercepted by more than twice as many Chinese vessels, which video footage shows boxing in, or what the Philippines has called “corralling” the ships. A Chinese crew also blasted a Philippine ship with a water cannon.
Second Thomas Shoal, which Manila calls Ayungin Shoal and Beijing calls Renai Jiao, is a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands. The Philippines deliberately grounded the Sierra Madre there in 1999 to lay claim to the feature, and the marines living there rely on regular shipments of supplies, as well as construction materials, to keep the dilapidated hulk together.
China now sees Second Thomas Shoal as the Philippines’ “most vulnerable outpost in the South China Sea,” Jeffrey Ordaniel, director of Maritime Programs at Honolulu-based foreign policy research institute Pacific Forum, told Newsweek. “Hence, the sustained gray zone coercion. Other Philippine outposts like the one on Thitu and Loita Cay, are more permanent and will probably take more than gray zone coercion to dislodge.”
