This handout video grab taken on April 27, 2021 and received from the Philippine Coastguard on May 5, 2021 shows the Philippine coastguard ship BRP Cabra (front) monitoring Chinese vessels at Sabina Shoal, a South China Sea outcrop claimed by Manila located about 135 kilometres (73 nautical miles) west of the Philippine island of Palawan.

Handout / Philippine Coastguard / AFP

 

MANILA, Philippines — The United States on Tuesday expressed support for the Philippines amid reports Chinese vessels are swarming near Iroquois Reef and Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands.

 

“The reported escalating swarms of PRC vessels in the vicinity of Iroquois Reef and Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands interfere with the livelihoods of Philippine fishing communities, and also reflect continuing disregard for other South China Sea claimants and states lawfully operating in the region,” US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

 

Price said Washington backs the Philippines’ calls for China to respect international law in the South China Sea, as reflected in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 ruling of a Hague-based arbitral tribunal that voided Beijing’s sweeping claims over the disputed waters.

 

Full Story: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/12/20/2232035/us-backs-philippines-amid-reported-swarming-chinese-vessels-spratlys

 

-- © Copyright Philstar 2022-12-20

 

Just to put things in perspective a bit.