By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-21 04:06:35 | Updated at 2025-01-21 07:45:23
3 hours ago
In a rare moment of accord amid their simmering feud over the South China Sea, Beijing and Manila have agreed to maintain a provisional deal allowing the Philippines to resupply a remote outpost at the Second Thomas Shoal – a move hailed as a “win” for Manila, albeit one fraught with uncertainty.
The agreement, reached during the 10th bilateral consultation mechanism (BCM) meeting in Xiamen on Thursday, comes as the Philippines continues to push back against what it calls a rising tide of Chinese incursions in the South China Sea.
The BCM, established as a forum for dialogue, has often been weighed down by the deep mistrust between the two neighbours. But this time, envoys described the talks as “frank and constructive”, according to the Philippines’ foreign affairs department.
Despite the diplomatic veneer, tensions remain high. Just days before the meeting, Manila lodged a fresh protest against the deployment of China’s 165-metre-long (180-yard-long) coastguard vessel 5901 – ominously dubbed “the monster” – which was spotted just 77 nautical miles (142km) off the Philippine coast.
The Philippines condemned the move as a violation of its exclusive economic zone, citing the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Manila’s recently enacted Maritime Zones Act.
China, for its part, has shown no signs of toning down its presence in contested waters, including Scarborough Shoal, which it has controlled since a 2012 clash with Philippine forces. The shoal – known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc – remains a flashpoint, and was the reason Manila filed an arbitration case against Beijing at The Hague.
