The ship was run aground by the Philippines because they wanted to prevent China from expanding in the region. Since then, a handful of Filipino soldiers have been serving in the shipwreck, and the replacement of this garrison was carried out by a water cannon-fired troop carrier by a Chinese coast guard ship over the weekend.

On Tuesday, China called on the Philippines to remove its Sierra Madre-class warship, which was used as a military base and deliberately ran aground decades ago in the South China Sea. A Beijing spokesperson said that the Philippines “has made a clear promise many times in the past to illegally tow the warship ashore, but after 24 years, Manila has not done so, and is even trying to reform and significantly strengthen it.” Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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Beijing’s call followed an incident over the weekend in which the Chinese coast guard fired water cannons at a Philippine supply ship that was on its way to the Sierra Madre, according to sources in Manila.

The Philippine warship ran aground in the Spratly Islands in 1999 in an attempt to prevent further Chinese expansion into the disputed waters. A handful of Filipino soldiers are on duty on the rusty wreck. The unit needs regular replenishment of its resources in the remote work center. The warship has long poisoned the relationship between Manila and Beijing.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Manila confirmed that the permanent stationing of soldiers there was a response to China’s “illegal” occupation of the nearby Michief Reef in 1995. He added: The Philippines has an inalienable right to establish a military base in its sphere of influence.

Thomas Reeve II, who was driving the Sierra Madre, is located about 200 kilometers from Palawan in the Philippines and more than a thousand kilometers from the Chinese mainland. A spokesperson for the Philippine National Security Council stated at the same time that they would never give up on the reef.

China claims 3.5 million square kilometers of the South China Sea, which is rich in raw materials, practically in its entirety, and for this purpose, it has created many islands for military purposes in the disputed area. The Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia dispute Beijing’s claims.

So far, China has ignored a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which recognized Manila’s claim as legitimate in 2016. The government in Manila announced in late December that it would bolster its naval military presence after Beijing began settling uninhabited areas in and around the disputed Spratly Islands.

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