China, Philippines agree on ‘provisional arrangement’ for South China Sea resupply missions, Manila says

The Philippine military’s spokesperson said in a separate statement on Sunday that the Philippines “will exhaust all means before seeking foreign intervention” in its resupply missions.

Manila and Washington are bound by the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, a pact that can be invoked in case of an armed attack against Philippine forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea. US officials including President Joe Biden have affirmed its “ironclad” commitment to aid the Philippines.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, overlapping maritime claims of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei. In 2016, a Hague-based tribunal said China’s claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected.