Beijing, Manila reach arrangement for supplies to illegal Philippine vessel

Beijing and Manila reached a provisional arrangement on the humanitarian resupply of living necessities to an illegally grounded Philippine vessel, as the two sides had a series of consultation on managing the situation at Ren'ai Reef, the Foreign Ministry said on early Monday.

The two sides agreed to jointly manage differences on maritime issues and work for de-escalation in the South China Sea, the ministry said in an online statement.

Meanwhile, the statement reiterated China's strong demand that the Philippines tow away the warship and restore Ren'ai Reef's state of hosting no personnel or facilities.

Between now and when the warship is towed away, China is willing to allow the Philippines to send living necessities to the personnel living on the warship in a humanitarian spirit, a spokesperson said in the statement.

The Philippines must inform China in advance and the resupply must be conducted after on-site verification, and China will monitor the entire resupply process, the spokesperson added.

If the Philippines were to send large amounts of construction materials to the warship and attempt to build fixed facilities or permanent outpost, China will absolutely not accept and will resolutely stop it, the spokesperson said.