Manila denies China ‘dealt with’ Philippine mission to disputed reef

A report from the Chinese Coast Guard claimed that China had “dealt with” a situation involving six Filipino employees, whom Beijing claimed had illegally landed on a small reef in the disputed South China Sea.

Despite receiving “warnings and dissuasion” from the Chinese side, according to Liu Dejun, a spokesman for the Chinese Coast Guard, who claimed in a statement on Sunday evening that six Filipino personnel had “illegally boarded” the Tiexian Reef, also known as Sandy Cay.

According to Liu, Chinese Coast Guard personnel “boarded the reef, investigated, and dealt with it in accordance with the law” afterward. The six Filipinos who were present at the time of the incident and their identities were neither provided in the statement.

According to Liu, “We urge the Philippines to stop its infringement immediately,” adding that it violated “China’s territorial sovereignty.”

Officials in Manila denied on Monday that China had taken control of Sandy Cay or that a Philippine mission to Sandy Cay, a reef over which sand has accumulated, was hampered by Chinese maritime forces in the area.

Thitu Island, also known as Pag-asa, is close to Sandy Cay, a member of the Spratly Islands, and the site of a Philippine military base.

According to Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Lo, “Philippine government officials categorically deny that China has seized Sandy Cay or has now permanently taken over Sandy Cay in the South China Sea,” the statement that was made available over the weekend in Chinese state media as an “outright lie” as part of Beijing’s disinformation strategy.

“The Philippine Coastguard and the Philippine Navy recently conducted a mission to Sandy Cay to prove this point, as recently as Sunday morning,” the Philippine Coastguard and navy said. According to Lo, “given the photos and videos of the Philippine flag being displayed on two of Sandy Cay’s three sand bars.”

Lo claimed that Philippine officials confirmed Chinese vessels were stationed close to the disputed reef during the mission on Sunday but that they had not yet verified that China had allegedly handled the Philippine mission.

The coastguard of China’s mainland had “implemented maritime control” over the Tiexian Reef in the middle of April, according to Chinese state media on Saturday. The Chinese coastguard landed on Sandy Cay to “exercise sovereignty and jurisdiction,” conduct an “inspection,” and “collect video evidence regarding the illegal activities of the Philippine side,” according to China’s state broadcaster CCTV.

A dark inflatable boat bobbed in the nearby water while five people, all dressed in black, were standing on an uninhabited reef. In a “vow of sovereignty,” according to CCTV, four coastguard officials posed with a national flag on the white surface of the reef in another shot.

There is no evidence that China is occupying the reef permanently, according to reports.

The Philippine and US militaries also announced on Monday that they would conduct three weeks of annual joint exercises called “Balikatan” or “shoulder to shoulder,” which will include a first-ever integrated air and missile defense simulation.

Beijing has accused Manila of collusion with nations outside the region and claimed that the maneuvers “undermine regional strategic stability.”

The coastguard’s unfurling of a Chinese flag on Sandy Cay was significant in terms of establishing claim to the reef and in advance of the annual US-Philippine military exercises, according to Al Jazeera’s Katrina Yu, who is from Beijing.