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China's in the wrong here as usual. The Philippines is an underrated ally of ours as the only majority Christian Asian country. They deserve our protection and Chinese aggression needs to be repelled for all of the obvious reasons.

The shoal sits about 230 kilometres (140 miles) from the Philippines' main island of Luzon. The nearest major Chinese landmass is 1,200 kilometres northwest of the shoal, according to Filipino navy maps.

But China claims virtually all of the South China Sea as its territory, even waters close to the coasts of the Philippines and other Asian countries.

Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia also claim parts of the sea, which is believed to sit atop vast oil and gas resources. The rival claims have for decades made the waters one of Asia's potential military flashpoints.

The Philippines, which admits to having an extremely weak military, has repeatedly said it wants to solve the stand-off over the shoal through diplomatic means.

But it has also said it secured a pledge from the United States, its main military ally, to protect the Philippines from attacks in the South China Sea.