Philippines Suspends South China Sea Survey after China’s ‘Harassment’

In this handout photo from the Philippine Coast Guard taken on January 24, 2025 and received on January 25, 2025, China Coast Guard officers on Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) check an incident with Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) during a marine scientific survey near Thitu Island in disputed waters of the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
In this handout photo from the Philippine Coast Guard taken on January 24, 2025 and received on January 25, 2025, China Coast Guard officers on Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) check an incident with Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) during a marine scientific survey near Thitu Island in disputed waters of the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
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Philippines Suspends South China Sea Survey after China’s ‘Harassment’

In this handout photo from the Philippine Coast Guard taken on January 24, 2025 and received on January 25, 2025, China Coast Guard officers on Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) check an incident with Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) during a marine scientific survey near Thitu Island in disputed waters of the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)
In this handout photo from the Philippine Coast Guard taken on January 24, 2025 and received on January 25, 2025, China Coast Guard officers on Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB) check an incident with Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) during a marine scientific survey near Thitu Island in disputed waters of the South China Sea. (Handout / Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) / AFP)

The Philippines said on Saturday it has suspended a scientific survey in the South China Sea after two of its fisheries vessels faced "harassment" and aggressive behavior from China's coast guard and navy.

Manila and Beijing have had a series of escalating confrontations in disputed waters of the South China Sea. China claims almost all the strategic waterway - through which $3 trillion in commerce moves annually - overlapping sovereignty claims by the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Two Philippine fisheries vessels, on their way on Friday to collect sand samples from Sandy Cay near Philippine-occupied Thitu island, encountered "aggressive maneuvers" from three China Coast Guard ships, the Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement on Saturday.

In its own statement, China Coast Guard said China has "indisputable sovereignty" over the Spratly Islands, including Sandy Cay - which China calls Tiexian Reef - and that it had intercepted two Philippine vessels and driven them away in accordance with law.

China Coast Guard said the Philippine vessels had entered waters near Tiexian Reef without permission and attempted to "illegally" land on the reef to collect sand samples.

The Philippine embassy in Beijing and the Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

China deployed four small boats from its larger coast guard vessels to "harass" two rigid hull inflatable boats deployed by the fisheries bureau to transport personnel to Sandy Cay, said the Philippine Coast Guard, which supported the scientific mission.

A Chinese navy helicopter also hovered at an "unsafe altitude" over the watercraft, it said.

Survey operations were suspended "as a result of this continuous harassment and the disregard for safety exhibited by the Chinese maritime forces," the Philippine Coast Guard said.

Manila and Beijing agreed during a round of talks on Jan. 16 to seek common ground and find ways to cooperate despite their disagreements over territorial claims in the South China Sea.

An international arbitration tribunal ruled in 2016 that China's claims, based on its historic maps, have no basis under international law, a decision Beijing does not recognize.



China Urges US to ‘Correct Mistakes’ After State Department Website Drops Taiwan Independence Reference 

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun gestures during a press conference in Beijing, China, 17 February 2025. (EPA)
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun gestures during a press conference in Beijing, China, 17 February 2025. (EPA)
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China Urges US to ‘Correct Mistakes’ After State Department Website Drops Taiwan Independence Reference 

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun gestures during a press conference in Beijing, China, 17 February 2025. (EPA)
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun gestures during a press conference in Beijing, China, 17 February 2025. (EPA)

China on Monday urged the United States to "correct its mistakes" after the US State Department removed previous wording on its website about not supporting Taiwan independence, which it said was part of a routine update.

The fact sheet on Taiwan, updated last week, retains Washington's opposition to unilateral change from either Taiwan or from China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own.

But as well as dropping the phrase "we do not support Taiwan independence", the page added a reference to Taiwan's cooperation with a Pentagon technology and semiconductor development project and says the US will support Taiwan's membership in international organizations "where applicable".

Beijing regularly denounces any international recognition of Taiwan or contact between Taiwanese and foreign officials, viewing it as encouraging Taiwan's separate status from China.

The update to the website came roughly three weeks after US President Donald Trump was sworn in to his second term in the White House.

Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the revisions for Taiwan on the US State Department's website were a big step backwards and "sends a seriously wrong message to Taiwan independence separatist forces".

"This is yet another example of the United States' stubborn adherence to the erroneous policy of 'using Taiwan to suppress China'. We urge the United States side to immediately rectify its mistakes," Guo said.

The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is its strongest international backer, bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

"As is routine, the fact sheet was updated to inform the general public about our unofficial relationship with Taiwan," a State Department spokesperson said in an email sent late Sunday Taiwan time responding to questions on the updated website wording.

"The United States remains committed to its one China policy," the spokesperson said, referring to Washington officially taking no position on Taiwan's sovereignty and only acknowledging China's position on the subject.

"The United States is committed to preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," the spokesperson said.

"We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side. We support cross-Strait dialogue, and we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to people on both sides of the Strait."

On Sunday, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung expressed his appreciation for what he called the "support and positive stance on US-Taiwan relations".

Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying that only the island's people can decide their future.

Taiwan says it is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name. The Republican government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists, who set up the People's Republic of China.