China has escalated its pressure on the Philippines to remove its grounded warship from the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed reef in the South China Sea, after a tense standoff between the two countries' coast guards over the weekend.
The Second Thomas Shoal, also known as Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines and Ren'ai Reef in China, is a submerged reef that is part of the Spratly Islands, a group of islands and reefs claimed by China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. The reef lies within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but China asserts its "indisputable" sovereignty over it and the rest of the South China Sea.
The Philippines has maintained a presence on the reef since 1999, when it deliberately ran...