The Philippines has completed a supply mission for troops stationed in a rusty World War II-era ship, but not without a usual cat and mouse chase with Chinese vessels in the South China Sea.
Reuters on Friday went on board one of the Philippine Coast Guard’s vessels escorting the mission to the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙), which Taiwan also claims, and witnessed how the China Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels tried to chase and block the Philippine contingent from reaching their destination.
China said the vessels entered the waters without its permission.
Photo: AFP
During the mission, two Chinese ships blocked two Philippine coast guard vessels. In another instance, a Philippine ship was surrounded by a Chinese coast guard vessel and three maritime militia vessels.
One of the Chinese ships was also seen heading dangerously close to the Philippine vessel, which Reuters was aboard, while several Chinese militia vessels tried to block its path.
“We always encounter dangerous maneuvers, shadowing activities, blocking not only from China Coast Guard vessels, but also from China militia vessels,” Philippine Coast Guard Commander Emmanuel Dangate told reporters after the mission.
“It is imperative that the supplies be delivered to BRP Sierra Madre to support our soldiers stationed there,” he said.
The Philippines intentionally grounded the warship in 1999 as part of its sovereignty claim to the shoal, which is inside its 322km exclusive economic zone.
The China Coast Guard on Friday said that two Philippine supply boats and two coast guard ships had entered the waters adjacent to the shoal without permission from the Chinese government.
China claims that the Philippines is bringing construction materials that reinforces the rusty warship and violates China’s sovereignty in the shoal. The Philippines says it is taking water and food to its troops.
A US Navy plane was also spotted overhead during Friday’s mission.
In a radio message to its Chinese counterpart, the Philippine Coast Guard warned that the Chinese actions would affect relations between the two countries.
The actions are “illegal, aggressive and destabilizing,” it said.
It was the second successfully completed resupply mission since Aug. 5, when China’s coast guard used a water cannon to deter the Philippine ships.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS