Major restructure sees China's PLA air force take over naval aircraft
China Sea, and in the recent transfer of naval aviation assets into the hands of the PLA Air Force. On 5 August, forces of the PLA Navy (PLAN), China Coast Guard (CCG) and People's Armed Forces Maritime Militia combined to prevent Philippine Coast Guard vessels from resupplying a dozen marines aboard BRP Sierra Madre, a rusting vessel that forms a Philippine military outpost at Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.
It was deliberately beached there in 1999 to maintain Manila's territorial claim in the face of Chinese encroachment, specifically its occupation of the then uninhabited Mischief Reef sitting 37.8km away. Clearly, by blockading Philippine vessels in this way, China has raised aggression a further notch, using water cannons and their larger ship hulls to prevent the monthly resupply of military personnel at Second Thomas Shoal within the Philippine exclusive economic zone.
CCG vessels even tried to ram smaller Philippine resupply boats. Without any legal justification, China stated: «We urge the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringing activities in these waters.
China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters, including the Second Thomas Shoal. The China Coast Guard will continue to carry out rights protection and law enforcement activities in waters under China's jurisdiction according to law.» The shoal is about 200 km from the Philippine island of Palawan, but more than 1,000 km from China's nearest landmass of Hainan Island.
In no uncertain terms, the Permanent Court of Arbitration proclaimed in 2016 that China has no claims there. China is seeking to push the Philippines off this reef, as it will then have a clear path to claiming more of the South
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