How a Filipino coastguard ship ended up being surrounded by 12 Chinese vessels

It was a rare window into confrontations most have viewed from afar. We were invited on board the Philippine Coastguard Vessel BRP Bagacay. They were on a resupply mission to Scarborough Shoal – a submerged reef which China claims as its own but is within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone. They were meant to be dropping off food and fuel to fishermen who rely on the lives beneath these waters. But they knew, as did we, that this journey was about far more. It felt as if they wanted to show the world they were willing to stand up to…