A Chinese Coastguard vessel patrols near the BRP Sierra Madre, a marooned transport ship which Philippine Marines live on as a military outpost, in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, part of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. (Reuters)China told the Philippines on Monday to remove its grounded warship from the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea after blocking two Manila supply ships with water cannons over the weekend as both sides asserted their claims of the area. The Philippines in 1999 intentionally grounded the warship to stake its claim to the Second Thomas Reef, a submerged reef that is part of the Spratly islands in the South China Sea. Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that the country continued to assert its sovereignty and territorial rights despite challenges in the South China Sea. China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and the Spratly Island, which consists of many islets, reefs banks and shoals and lie in the center of South China Sea and along major shipping lanes.
