A symbolic battle over flags on a disputed reef has reignited tensions between China and the Philippines, exposing the challenges to achieving maritime stability even as Beijing pledges to complete a long-delayed Code of Conduct aimed at preventing conflict in the South China Sea.
Two weeks after Chinese coastguard personnel posed with their national flag on Sandy Cay – asserting “indisputable sovereignty” over the reef, which it refers to as Tiexian Jiao – Philippine navy, coastguard and police units mounted a counter-mission on Sunday, unfurling their own flags on three cays that form part of the feature.
The Philippine team, using four motorised rubber boats, disembarked at Pag-asa Cay 1, Cay 2 and Cay 3 before sunrise. Their success was evidence that China’s earlier claims of control were misleading, according to Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesman for the Philippine Coast Guard on South China Sea issues.
“This is clear evidence that China’s narrative is only intended to counter our factual narrative that we can actually go to these cays,” Tarriela said in a radio interview on Monday.
China has not disclosed precisely when its flag-raising operation took place, but state television and the Global Times have aired footage showing Chinese personnel planting the national flag on Sandy Cay.
