The US State Department expressed support for the Philippines after the actions of the PRC in the disputed waters of Spratly supply vessels in the disputed waters of the South China Sea off the Spratly archipelago. This is reported by The Straits Times, citing State Department spokesman Ned Price.
The United States expressed support for the Philippines and stressed that in this situation it stands on the side of its ally. “Escalation directly threatens regional peace and stability, leads to increased tension in the region, encroaches on the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, which is guaranteed by international law,” Price stressed.
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The incident reportedly occurred while the Filipinos were heading to Thomas' Second Bank. Filipino ships were carrying food to the military on the island when the PRC coast guard fired at them with a water cannon, forcing them to end their mission.
Earlier, the Washington Center for Strategic and International Studies said in a report that the Chinese authorities are paying fishermen to consolidate their presence in the disputed territorial waters around the Spratly archipelago in the South China Sea and are sending 300 militia ships there every day. The United States claims that the PRC issues fuel subsidies to fishermen in the amount of 24,175 yuan (US $ 3,700) per day.
The Spratly Islands are disputed by six states: Vietnam, PRC, Republic of China (Taiwan), Malaysia, Philippines and Brunei. The island archipelago has significant reserves of oil and gas: in the Reed Bank archipelago alone, there are about 50 trillion cubic meters of natural gas and over five billion barrels of oil.
On August 30, the China Maritime Security Administration announced that all foreign ships are required to report their whereabouts when entering “Chinese” territorial waters. We are talking about the waters of Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and others. Now foreign ships are required to report their callsign to the Chinese administration, as well as transmit information about the transported goods.