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(ABC – Australia) China and the Philippines have agreed to a new deal to end a bitter conflict in the South China Sea.
The Second Thomas Shoal has become the scene of increasingly violent confrontations between the two countries, including ramming ships and using water cannons.
What’s next?
Details of the agreement have not been disclosed, but it is understood that neither side will make any territorial concessions.
China and the Philippines have reached an agreement that they hope will end confrontation over the most hotly disputed shoal in the South China Sea, the Philippine government said.
The Philippines occupies the Second Thomas Shoal, but China also claims the island, and growing hostilities at sea have raised concerns about a larger conflict that could involve the United States.
The crucial agreement was reached on Sunday after a series of talks and exchanges of diplomatic notes between Philippine and Chinese diplomats in Manila aimed at reaching a mutually acceptable arrangement on the Spratly Islands without giving up either side’s territorial claims.
Two Philippine officials briefed on the talks confirmed the deal on condition of anonymity, and the Philippine government later announced the agreement in a brief statement without providing specific details.
“Both sides continue to recognize the need to de-escalate tensions in the South China Sea and manage differences through dialogue and consultation, and agree that the agreement will not undermine each other’s positions in the South China Sea,” Manila’s Foreign Ministry said.
The two sides have not yet released the text of the agreement.
China has land and maritime border disputes with multiple governments, many of which are in the South China Sea.
The rare agreement with the Philippines is likely to raise hopes that similar arrangements can be struck between Beijing and other hostile states to avoid conflict while thorny territorial issues remain unresolved.
However, it remains to be seen whether the agreement can be successfully implemented and how long it will last.
Intense conflict
The Philippines says a crew member was seriously injured in the South China Sea incident.
China’s coast guard and other forces have deployed powerful water cannons and dangerous blockades to prevent food and other supplies from reaching Philippine naval personnel at Manila’s outpost on the shoal.
Since last year, Chinese ships have engaged in repeated standoffs with Philippine Coast Guard-escorted naval vessels that were delivering food, water and fresh sailors and marines to the outpost aboard the long-grounded and rusting Sierra Madre.
In the most serious standoff, Chinese troops on motorboats repeatedly rammed and boarded two Philippine Navy ships on June 17 to prevent Filipino personnel from transferring food and other supplies, including guns, to the ship’s outpost on the shoal, according to the Philippine government.
After several rammings, the Chinese soldiers seized the Philippine Navy boat and damaged it with machetes and homemade spears. They also seized seven M4 rifles packed in boxes and other supplies. The fierce conflict left several Philippine Navy personnel injured, one of whom lost a thumb. Philippine officials later released videos and photos documenting the chaotic conflict.
China and the Philippines have accused each other of responsibility for the clash and each claims sovereignty over the shoal, which the Filipinos call Ayunkin Reef and the Chinese call Second Thomas Shoal.
The United States and its major Asian and Western allies, including Japan and Australia, have condemned China’s actions in the Spratly Islands and called for upholding the rule of law and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, a key global trade route with rich fisheries and undersea natural gas reserves.
Impact on other countries
Besides China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are also locked in their own and increasingly tense territorial disputes over the waterway, which is seen as a potential flashpoint and delicate fault line in the regional competition between China and the United States.
For decades, the U.S. military has deployed naval ships and fighter jets on so-called freedom of navigation and overflight patrols, which China opposes and sees as a threat to regional stability.
Washington has no territorial claims in the disputed waters but has repeatedly warned it is obligated to defend the Philippines, America’s oldest treaty ally in Asia, if its troops, ships and aircraft come under armed attack in places such as the South China Sea.
The June 17 standoff prompted Beijing and Manila to speed up on-again, off-again negotiations to reach a deal to avoid a confrontation at Second Thomas Shoal, one of the two Philippine officials said.
During the final meetings over the past four days, two Chinese demands that had been key sticking points were removed from the draft agreement.
China had previously said it would allow the Philippines to deliver food, water and other basic supplies to Chinese troops stationed at Scarborough Shoal if Manila agreed not to send construction materials to reinforce the dilapidated warship, and to notify China in advance and give China the right to inspect the ship for such materials, officials said.
Philippine officials said the Philippines rejected those conditions and they were not included in the final deal.
Associated Press
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