China's Position on the Territorial Disputes in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines

8. The Issue of Ren'ai Reef (Second Thomas Shoal)

In 1999, a Philippine Navy vessel illegally "grounded" off the Ren'ai reef of China's Nansha Islands under the pretext of "stranding". The Chinese side has been repeatedly making representations to the Philippine side, urging the latter to tow away the ship. The Philippine side claimed that they did not tow away the ship due to "lack of spare parts". The Philippine side stated that it had no plan to build facilities on the reef, and it was not prone to provocation. Since 2003, the Chinese side has repeatedly made representations to the Philippine side, and the Philippine side claimed that as a signatory to the DOC, it would not and was not willing to become the first one to violate the DOC, and that the Philippine side had not built any construction on the reef, and posed no threats to any parties.

However, the Philippine side has not yet towed away the vessel. To make matters worse, the Philippine side has kept taking actions in an attempt to build facilities on the reef. Recently, the Chinese government vessels on routine patrol in waters off the Nansha Islands found again that the Philippine side, under the cover of reprovision to the "grounded" vessel, sent ships to transport rebar and cement in order to reinforce the facilities on the reef. There is no way for the Chinese side to accept this.

The statement released by the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines on March 14 openly stated that the vessel "grounded" 15 years ago was actually meant to occupy the reef, which proves that the Philippine side has been lying for 15 years. The sitting Philippine government was not the one 15 years ago, but as a country, the Philippines is obliged to honor its commitment. A public denial of its own promise will make it lose credibility to the international community. Recently, the Philippine side has been playing up the issue of Ren'ai Reef, playing cards of sympathy everywhere, and including the issue into the so-called international arbitration, with an aim to gather sympathy and trust of the international community and legalize its occupation of the Ren'ai Reef. The Chinese side is steadfast in defending its territorial sovereignty and maritime interests and rights. The Philippines' plot is doomed to failure.