Philippines sends replacement ship to Sabina Shoal, vows continued presence

MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippines said it was sending a vessel to Sabina Shoal to replace a coast guard ship that returned to port on Sunday after a five-month deployment at the contested feature in the South China Sea, in a swap that would likely irk China.

Beijing had demanded the Philippines withdraw the 97-metre (318-foot) coast guard vessel Teresa Magbanua it claimed was "illegally stranded" at the atoll, which it asserts it owns as part of its broader claim to nearly the entire South China Sea.

"The Philippine side's actions have seriously infringed on China's territorial sovereignty," Liu Dejun, a spokesperson for China's coast guard said in a statement on Sunday about what it referred to as Manila's "withdrawal" of its ship.

Teresa Magbanua, which was deployed at Sabina Shoal to monitor what Manila suspects to be China's small-scale land reclamation activities in the area, has returned to port as its mission has been accomplished, the Philippine Coast Guard and National Maritime Council (NMC) said. "Another will immediately take over," NMC spokesperson Alexander Lopez said, citing an order from the Philippine Coast Guard chief. "Definitely, we will keep our presence there."

Sabina Shoal, which China refers to as Xianbin Reef and the Philippines as the Escoda Shoal, lies 150 km (93 miles) west of the Philippine province of Palawan, well within the country's exclusive economic zone.

Teresa Magbanua's presence there has angered Beijing, turning the shoal into the latest flashpoint in the contested waterway.

Manila and Beijing have traded accusations of intentional ramming of each others' vessels near Sabina last month, just after reaching a pact on resupply missions to a beached Filipino naval ship in the Second Thomas Shoal.

Teresa Magbanua's return was necessary for the medical needs of its crew and to undergo repairs, and once it has been resupplied and repaired, it will resume its mission, along with other coast guard and military assets "as defenders of our sovereignty," Lucas Bersamin, executive secretary and NMC chairman said in a statement.

The move followed high-level talks between Manila and Beijing in China last week where the Philippines reaffirmed its position on Sabina and China reiterated its demand that the vessel be withdrawn.

China's coast guard said it would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in the waters under Beijing's jurisdiction in accordance with the law and safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.

China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, overlapping into maritime zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

In 2016 the Hague arbitration tribunal voided China's expansive and historical claims, a decision Beijing rejects.

(Reporting by Karen Lema; Additional reporting by Shanghai newsroom; Editing by Miral Fahmy and Jamie Freed)