Philippines to send replacement ship to China-disputed shoal

The Philippines said it was sending a vessel to Sabina Shoal to replace a coast guard ship that returned to port on Sept 15 after a five-month deployment at the contested feature in the South China Sea, in a swop that will likely irk China.

Beijing had demanded the Philippines withdraw the 97m-long Teresa Magbanua that 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," Mr Liu Dejun, a spokesperson for China's coast guard, said in a statement on Sept 15 about what it referred to as Manila's "withdrawal" of its ship.