China says has 'indisputable sovereignty' over Sabina Shoal after Philippine ship leaves

BEIJING, China — China said on Sunday, September 15, that it has "indisputable sovereignty" over the contested Sabina Shoal after a Philippine ship that had been anchored there for months left the area.

Beijing "has indisputable sovereignty over... Xianbin Jiao and its adjacent waters", Chinese coast guard spokesperson Liu Dejun said, using the Chinese name for Sabina Shoal.

The Philippines' National Maritime Council confirmed earlier that the BRP Teresa Magbanua, which had spent months anchored at Sabina Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, has left the area.

The Philippine Coast Guard ship had been anchored inside Sabina Shoal since April to assert Manila's claims to the area and prevent China from seizing it.

Beijing has continued to press its claims to almost the entire South China Sea despite an international tribunal ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

Philippine and Chinese vessels have collided at least three times recently near Sabina Shoal, located 140 kilometers (86 miles) from the Philippines' western island of Palawan and 1,200 kilometres from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan island.

The Teresa Magbanua's bridge wing and freeboard were damaged in one of the collisions.

"During her deployment... she challenged an encirclement by a larger flotilla of intruders, battled inclement weather, with her crew surviving on diminished daily provisions," National Maritime Council Chairperson Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement Sunday.

The Teresa Magbanua "carried out her sentinel duties against overwhelming odds", he added.

Last month, Chinese vessels blocked a resupply mission to the Filipino sailors on board the ship, leaving them running critically low of food and other provisions.

Earlier this week, officials from the Philippines and China held high-level talks on their maritime issues where Beijing reiterated its demand for the withdrawal of the Philippine vessel.

The latest situation has echoes of 2012, when Beijing took control of Scarborough Shoal -- another strategic feature about 240 kilometers west of the Philippines' main island of Luzon.

Then, Manila pulled its ships back after a tense two-month maritime standoff.