China and the Philippines have reached an agreement they hope will end confrontations over the most hotly contested sandbar in the South China Sea, the Philippine government said Sunday.
The Philippines occupies Second Thomas Shoal, but China also claims it, and increasingly hostile clashes at sea have raised fears of broader conflicts that could involve the United States.
The crucial deal was reached on Sunday, after a series of meetings between Philippine and Chinese diplomats in Manila and exchanges of diplomatic notes aimed at establishing a mutually acceptable arrangement on the bench without conceding either side’s territorial claims.
Two Philippine officials familiar with the negotiations confirmed the deal to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, and the government later issued a brief statement announcing the agreement without providing details.
“Both sides continue to recognize the need to de-escalate the situation in the South China Sea and manage disputes through dialogue and consultation and agree that the agreement will not prejudice the other side’s positions in the South China Sea,” the foreign ministry said in Manila.
Neither side has yet released the text of the agreement.
China is in conflict with several governments over its land and maritime borders, particularly in the South China Sea. The agreement with the Philippines may raise hopes that Beijing could strike similar arrangements with other rival countries to avoid clashes until thorny territorial issues are resolved. It remains to be seen, however, whether the agreement can be successfully implemented and how long it will last.
The Chinese coast guard and other forces used powerful water cannons and dangerous blocking maneuvers to prevent food and other supplies from reaching Philippine Navy personnel at the Manila outpost on the shoal.
The years-long territorial standoff over the shoal has flared up several times since last year between the Chinese Coast Guard, Navy and suspected militia vessels and Navy boats escorted by the Philippine Coast Guard carrying food, water and fresh Navy and Marine personnel to an outpost on a rusting and long-stranded warship, the BRP Sierra Madre.
In the worst confrontation, Chinese forces on motorboats repeatedly rammed and then boarded two Philippine navy boats on June 17 to prevent Filipino personnel from transferring food and other supplies, including firearms, to the ship’s outpost in shallow waters off the shoal, according to the Philippine government.
After repeatedly ramming the Philippine Navy ships, the Chinese seized the boats and damaged them with machetes and improvised spears. They also seized seven M4 rifles, packed in crates, along with other supplies. The violent confrontation left several Philippine Navy personnel injured, including one who lost his thumb, in a chaotic skirmish that was filmed and photographed and later made public by Philippine authorities.
China and the Philippines have accused each other of responsibility for the confrontation and each asserted their own sovereign rights over the shoal, which Filipinos call Ayungin and the Chinese call Ren’ai Jiao.
The United States and its key Asian and Western allies, including Japan and Australia, have condemned China’s actions on the shoal and called for respect for the rule of law and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, a key global trade route with rich fishing grounds and undersea gas deposits.
In addition to China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan are locked in separate but increasingly tense territorial disputes over the waterway, which is seen as a potential flashpoint and a delicate fault line in the regional rivalry between the United States and China. The U.S. military has for decades deployed warships and fighter jets in what it calls freedom of navigation and overflight patrols, which China opposes and views as a threat to regional stability.
Washington has no territorial claims in the disputed waters, but has repeatedly warned that it is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
One of the two Philippine officials said the June 17 confrontation had prompted Beijing and Manila to accelerate negotiations on an arrangement that would prevent confrontations at Second Thomas Shoal.
During the last four days of meetings, two Chinese demands that were major sticking points were removed from the draft agreement.
China had previously said it would allow the Philippines to transport food, water and other basic supplies to its forces in the shoal if Manila agreed not to bring construction materials to fortify the wrecked ship, and to give China advance notice and the right to inspect the ships for such materials, the officials said.
The Philippines rejected those conditions and the final deal did not include them, the Philippine official said.
