Beijing appears to be carefully weighing plans to tow a Philippine vessel it says is “illegally” deployed at a disputed atoll that has become a new flashpoint in the South China Sea.
However, observers warned that any miscalculation could trigger armed conflict that would invoke a mutual treaty drawing in the US.
Two Chinese navy tug boats – Nantuo 175 and 185 – were among the Chinese vessels surrounding the BRP Teresa Magbanua, a 2,600-tonne Philippine coastguard ship involved in collisions with Chinese vessels last Saturday, according to a photo posted by Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
While the photo is believed to have been taken before the collision, the presence of Chinese tug boats raised speculation about whether Beijing might try to drive the Philippine vessel out of Sabina Shoal – a disputed atoll known as Xianbin Jiao in China and Escoda Shoal in the Philippines.
China has repeatedly urged the Philippines to remove the Teresa Magbanua. Beijing worries Manila might establish a permanent presence at Sabina Shoal as it did on Second Thomas Shoal, another contested reef known as Renai Jiao in China and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines.
