Philippine forces successfully delivered supplies and new personnel to a contested outpost in the South China Sea last week, despite Chinese government vessels reportedly jamming communications during the operation.
The mission, which saw the Armed Forces of the Philippines transport food, fuel, and a fresh contingent of navy personnel to the Second Thomas Shoal, concluded "without any untoward incident" on Friday, according to two senior Philippine officials.
The officials, who spoke anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the issue, confirmed the presence of Chinese Coast Guard and other ships that have maintained a long-standing watch around the Philippine-occupied shoal.
While Beijing has yet to issue an official statement, Chinese authorities have historically asserted claims over the fishing atoll and nearly the entirety of the South China Sea, repeatedly demanding the removal of the grounded warship, BRP Sierra Madre, from the Second Thomas Shoal.
One of the officials revealed that the Chinese Coast Guard actively jammed communications in and around the shoal as Philippine forces resupplied the Sierra Madre.
This action was apparently intended to thwart potential drone surveillance by the United States and other international forces committed to upholding the rule of law in the vital global trade route.
The Philippine military has carried out 12 such deliveries of supplies and new personnel without incident to the long-grounded Sierra Madre since last year.
Confrontations have been averted after China and the Philippines signed a temporary nonaggression arrangement in July 2024 to prevent new confrontations in the fishing atoll, which both Asian countries have long claimed.
In August, however, China deployed more coast guard and suspected militia ships to the closely guarded shoal, including some with more powerful machine guns, backed by a helicopter and an unmanned surveillance drone.
At the time, a Chinese Coast Guard ship was spotted firing its powerful water cannon in an apparent drill or intimidating gesture and a Chinese boat came as close as 50 meters (164 feet) to the Sierra Madre.
The Chinese vessel was blocked by two boatloads of Filipino forces from coming closer to the Filipino ship outpost, the Philippine military said.
The Philippine military deliberately grounded the Sierra Madre in the turquoise shallows of the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to serve as a territorial outpost. China, which also claims the shoal, later surrounded the atoll with its ships.
The years-long territorial standoff has caused frequent faceoffs between Philippine military supply boats and Chinese forces in the past until Filipino and Chinese diplomats forged the nonaggression arrangement last year covering the shoal, a landmark deal between two claimant Asian states.
Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have overlapping territorial claims in the sea passage. The U.S. lays no claims to the waters but has repeatedly warned it is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, aircraft and ships come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
