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The Philippines' "Christmas convoy" on Friday embarked on its journey to deliver supplies to troops and fishermen in disputed parts of the South China Sea while sending a message to China.
The civilian convoy, organized by the volunteer coalition "Atin Ito"—Tagalog for "It's Ours"— comprises over 40 groups so far, according to Philippine news channel ANC Digital, which was on the scene.
The "Christmas convoy" represents a civilian-led effort to address regional tensions and assert Manila's stance in an ongoing territorial dispute over the South China Sea, most of which China claims as its own, putting it at odds not only with the Philippines but also Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan.
In the footage from ANC Digital, volunteers aboard the convoy's mother ship can be seen adorning it with Philippine flags and "Atin Ito" signs.
Atin Ito co-organizer Edicio Dela Torre contacted Newsweek shortly after arriving at the Palawan Province island of El Nido to join "send off ceremonies" for the convoy's voyage to outlying areas. He said the convoy is "a civilian initiative, exercising our right to travel within our waters to bring Christmas cheer to our frontliners on the West Philippine Sea."
The West Philippine Sea is Manila's name for the portion of the South China Sea that falls within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
"I want to stress that China's sovereignty in the South China Sea are formed through long-term historical practice and have sufficient historical and legal basis," Chinese embassy in the U.S. spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Newsweek.
"For some time now, the Philippines has frequently sent ships and planes to invade the waters and airspace adjacent to China's Nansha Islands and Huangyan Island," Liu said, though he added he wasn't aware of the ongoing convoy.
Liu said that Manila's activities seriously violate China's sovereignty, peace and stability in the South China Sea. He urged the Philippines to stop "hyping up" maritime disputes and acting provocatively, and to return to "negotiation and consultation as soon as possible."
The Nansha Islands are China's name for the Spratly Island archipelago. Huangyan is its name for Scarborough Shoal, a disputed feature China effectively seized in 2012 by filling its waters with fishing and coastguard vessels.
The convoy's route includes Philippine-held islands in a region where tensions between the Philippines and China have intensified this year. Huangyan Island is Beijing's name for Scarborough Shoal.
The Philippines' National Security Council initially discouraged the volunteers because of recent tensions with Chinese maritime forces. But last week the council reversed course and gave its approval.
Dela Torre said a pair of coastguard ships are escorting the convoy. The group will also defer to coastguard guidance on any changes to the route, "in order to avoid confrontation with the Chinese forces." He added that the volunteers had not been contacted by the Chinese government.
Though convoy will sail through "the vicinity" of Second Thomas Shoal, it will not pursue our original goal of delivering Christmas gifts directly to the BRP Sierra Madre," Dela Torre said, per an agreement with the government's National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea. Instead, "frontliners" at the hot spot would resupplied through a regular resupply mission.
Second Thomas Shoal, which the Philippines calls Ayungin Shoal and China calls Rena'i Reef, is at the center of the territorial struggle between the two neighbors. The Philippines stations a small outfit of troops there aboard the Sierra Madre, a former warship run aground to stake the country's claim. China routinely tries to block Philippine supply runs to the shoal.
The volunteer convoy will first take on additional volunteers and media at the island province of Palawan before heading for more remote waters. The mission is set to end on December 13.
The leaders of the G7, in a joint statement Wednesday, condemned China's "expansive maritime claims" and "militarization activities" in the South China Sea. The leaders affirmed support for a 2016 international tribunal ruling that dismissed Beijing's claims as incompatible with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea's (UNCLOS) provisions for exclusive economic zones.
Also on Wednesday, the Philippines House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling on the country to "assert and fight for its rights in the [South China Sea] and uphold the 2016 arbitrated decision.
Asked about the resolution during a press conference Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin reiterated China's "indisputable sovereignty" over the sea's disputed waters He said the tribunal's ruling was moot because the court had "violated the principle of state consent."
Update 12/9//23, 10:40 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comments from Edicio Dela Torre and the Chinese embassy in the U.S.
About the writer
Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more