Philippines rejects China’s claim it ‘staged’ cyanide evidence at disputed shoal

At the centre of the dispute is the BRP Sierra Madre, a derelict navy vessel that Manila deliberately grounded on Second Thomas Shoal – known locally as Ayungin – in 1999 to assert its claim to the submerged reef.

A 2016 ruling by an arbitral tribunal in The Hague found the shoal lay within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, a decision Beijing has rejected and continues to dismiss. China refers to the feature as Ren’ai Jiao and considers it part of its Nansha Qundao, or Spratly Islands.

Philippine officials say Chinese fishermen working from maritime militia vessels have on at least four occasions since February last year approached the Sierra Madre in small wooden sampans carrying yellow plastic bottles which, according to Manila, contained cyanide released into the water around the outpost.

Beijing says the fishermen were engaged in normal fishing and accuses the Philippine navy of confiscating their belongings.