Philippines to continue resupply missions in S.China Sea, won't escalate situation

MANILA - Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Tuesday that the country will not send its navy to support Filipino fishers in a contested shoal in the South China Sea despite a recent incident with Chinese vessels.

"We will never be part of an escalation in the West Philippine Sea," Marcos told reporters, adding that the country will continue supporting fishermen.

The Philippines will not deploy its own navy warships in the area to prevent provocation and escalation, Marcos said. The Philippines refers to the portion of the South China Sea that it claims as the West Philippine Sea.

China will continue to safeguard its sovereignty, rights and interests, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"The recent maritime incidents between China and the Philippines are entirely caused by the Philippines' persistent infringement and provocation," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular news conference.

Chinese coastguard vessels on Dec. 4 fired a water cannon and side-swiped a Manila fisheries bureau boat transporting supplies to Filipino fishermen operating in the Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing patch, according to Philippine officials.

Philippine coastguard vessels also faced "blocking, shadowing, and dangerous manoeuvres" from a Chinese navy vessel.

China's coastguard said last week that Philippine ships "dangerously approached" Beijing's territorial waters around the Scarborough Shoal.

The Philippines filed a diplomatic protest against China, which claims almost all of the South China Sea, angering neighbouring countries that dispute boundaries they say cut into their exclusive economic zones.

(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales; Additional Reporting by Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Tom Hogue, Michael Perry and Ed Osmond)