PH Navy warship deployed to Escoda Shoal amid alleged reclamation by China

The Philippine Navy on Tuesday said it has deployed a warship to Escoda Shoal (or Sabina Shoal) amid the reported attempt of China to conduct reclamation activities in the area.

“For the past good number of days, we have had one warship stationed in the area,” Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad told reporters.

“This is to ensure that whoever is doing that, we are not sure who is doing that, whoever is piling up their corals on Sabina Shoal, we will be able to expose their activities,” he added.

Trinidad said the Philippine Navy will not allow the reclamation in Escoda Shoal “because it is well within the sovereign rights and sovereignty of the Philippines.”

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Saturday accused China of building an artificial island in the WPS feature.

PCG spokesperson for WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela said piles of dead and crushed coral were dumped on the sandbars of Sabina Shoal that altered their size and elevation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Monday called the alleged reclamation a “rumor.”

“As I just said, the accusation of ‘China’s reclamation’ at Xianbin Jiao is sheer rumor spread by the Philippines, which is an irresponsible claim designed to vilify China and mislead the international community,” he said at a press conference in Beijing.China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its territorial claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

Manila calls parts of the waters within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as West Philippine Sea.

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in the Hague ruled that China's claims over the South China Sea has no legal basis, a decision Beijing does not recognize.—RF, GMA Integrated News