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Beijing wants PH out of South China Sea – analysts

BEIJING — Ramming boats, building militarized islands and threatening perceived trespassers — China is escalating confrontations with the Philippines in a bid to push it out of the South China Sea, analysts say.

One of the most perilous flashpoints between the two nations is a submerged reef called the Second Thomas Shoal, where in 1999 the Philippine Navy intentionally marooned a decrepit World War II ship to assert the country's territorial claims.

This file photo shows China Coast Guard vessel cut across the bow of a PCG patrol ship and hosed it down with water cannons in an attempt to drive it off. Courtesy PCG