The Philippine coast guard vessel at the center of a standoff with China in the South China Sea has left the disputed Sabina Shoal, according to vessel tracking data obtained by RFA.
Radio Free Asia tried to contact Philippine government agencies for comment on why the vessel had left the shoal, which is about 140 km (85 miles) west of Palawan island, but did not receive a response by time of publication. China has not commented.
Data provided by the website MarineTraffic, which uses automatic identification system (AIS) signals to track ships, show that the BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) is back in the Sulu Sea near the Philippines’ Balabac island, about 200 km (125 miles) to the south of the shoal.
Ship tracking specialists told RFA the 2,200-ton coast guard flagship left the hotly disputed shoal, known in the Philippines as Escoda, at around 1 p.m. on Friday.
The shoal is claimed by both countries but is entirely within the Philippine exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, where the Philippines holds rights to explore for natural resources.
BRP Teresa Magbanua is one of the largest and most modern vessels of the Philippine coast guard. It was first deployed to Sabina Shoal in April to monitor what the Philippines fears is a Chinese plan to reclaim land at the shoal, as China has done elsewhere in the South China Sea.
Philippine officials insisted that the vessel could remain there for as long as necessary but China denounced what it saw as the “illegal grounding” of the BRP Teresa Magbanua and deployed a large number of ships there to keep watch. The Philippines denied that the vessel had been grounded.
The standoff resulted in several collisions between Philippine and Chinese vessels, especially during Philippine resupply missions to the BRP Teresa Magbanua, raising fears of a more serious conflict between the Philippines, a close U.S. ally, and an increasingly assertive China.
Beijing feared that by maintaining the vessel’s semi-permanent presence at the shoal, Manila aimed to establish de-facto control over it, similar to what it has done at the Second Thomas Shoal, where an old Philippine warship, BRP Sierra Madre, was deliberately run aground to serve as an outpost.
For its part, the Philippines is worried that without the presence of its authorities, Chinese ships will swarm the area and effectively take control of it, as happened at Scarborough Shoal – another disputed South China Sea feature – where China has had control since 2012.
Sabina Shoal is close to an area believed to be rich in oil and gas, and also served as the main staging ground for resupply missions to the Sierra Madre at the Second Thomas Shoal.
Lower the tension
“The parallels are unavoidable,” said Ray Powell, director of the U.S.-based SeaLight project at Stanford University, referring to what China did at the Scarborough Shoal.
“China is also likely to declare victory – hard to avoid that conclusion,” said the maritime security analyst who monitors developments in the South China Sea, referring to the withdrawal of the Philippine ship.
On Sept. 12, Philippine Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Maria Theresa P. Lazaro met China’s Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong to discuss the situation at the shoal.
The Chinese side reportedly urged the Philippines to immediately withdraw its vessels while “Lazaro reaffirmed the consistent position of the Philippines and explored ways to lower the tension in the area,” the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
It is not clear whether the BRP Teresa Magbanua withdrew as a result of that consultation.
Philippine analyst Chester Cabalza, president of the International Development and Security Cooperation think tank, described the withdrawal of the ship as “anti-climactic,” adding that he thought both sides should withdraw from the vicinity of the shoal, which is in an important sea lane.
Cabalza said if the Philippines and China had reached any agreement in their Sept. 12 consultation, that would become evident in the absence of any “swarming of Chinese armada” at the shoal.
“The ball is with China now,” the analyst told RFA’s affiliate BenarNews.
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*Jason Guterriez in Manila contributed to this report.”
Editing by RFA Staff
This content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia and was authored by By RFA Staff.