Amidst the spat with Beijing over safety of its troops on Sierra Madre at the Second Thomas Shoal, the Philippines is becoming increasingly stretched. Pooling all available resources to deal with one of the worst oil spills in many years in Manila Bay could mean playing down conflict with Beijing.

The dispute over the Second Thomas Shoal is complex, resource demanding and fluid.

Last Sunday (28 July), Manila reported it was able to resupply the troops on the Shoal uninterrupted and without giving Beijing prior notification and onsite verification. However, China’s Foreign Minister meeting at Vientiane after the incident maintained that the provisional arrangement had allowed the Philippines to supply only “living necessities after on-site verification and monitoring of the process.”

Whilst at Vientiane, Foreign Minister Wang Li also warned the Philippines over the deployment of the US intermediate missile systems as threatening the peace and security in the region.

The tension over Second Thomas Shoal has been brewing for some time.

The fuss over the Shoal goes beyond Manila defending a rotting vessel that was deliberately sunk in 1998. The former Philippines Chief of Navy, Admiral Eduardo Santos, confessed he scuttled the vessel to scupper China’s expansionist territorial ambition. This happened three years after China seized Mischief Reef that has since been converted into an artificial island complete with a military garrison and an airfield.

The disclosure by the former Chief of Navy he scuttled an ex- naval boat has raised questions over state responsibility under international law. States are not allowed to cause “accidents” of its public vessels. If the “accident” happens in the high sea, the flag state is required under international law to remove it.

The Sierra Madre is outside the Philippine territorial waters.

The Second Thomas shoal is an underwater feature that cannot be occupied without a structure above it. The sunken Sierra Madre provides the structure or platform for Filipino soldiers to stay afloat and to have a........

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