PCG says it will block China reclamation at Escoda Shoal

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is committed to sustaining a presence in the West Philippine Sea to ensure China does not carry out reclamation activities at Escoda Shoal, its spokesperson said on Monday.

The PCG said on Saturday it had deployed a ship to the shoal—also known as Sabina Shoal— where it accused China of building an artificial island, amid an escalating maritime row, adding two other vessels were in rotational deployment in the area.

Since the ship's deployment in mid-April, the coast guard said it had discovered piles of dead and crushed coral that had been dumped on the sandbars of Sabina Shoal, altering their sizes and elevation.

PCG spokesperson Jay Tarriela told a press conference on Monday the Coast Guard had to make sure it was able to prevent "China from carrying out a successful reclamation in Sabina Shoal."

He said the PCG was committed to maintaining a presence at the shoal.

Located within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the shoal is the rendezvous point for vessels carrying out resupply missions to Filipino troops stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded warship at Ayungin Shoal, where the Philippines and China have had frequent maritime run-ins.

China has carried out extensive land reclamation on some islands in the South China Sea, building air force and other military facilities, causing concern in Washington and around the region.

Tarriela believed the PCG had been effective in deterring China from doing small-scale reclamation. It had not documented any activity from the Chinese vessels present in Sabina Shoal since it deployed its multi-role response vessel there in mid April.

"China does not want to get caught," Tarriela said.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese Embassy in Manila on Tarriela's remarks.

"China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands and the adjacent waters," it said in a statement on Sunday.

China claims almost all of the vital waterway, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in 2016 that Beijing's claims had no basis under international law, a decision that China rejects. — Reuters