Whitsun Reef row: could the Philippines lose another South China Sea feature to Beijing?

The Philippines on Tuesday said it had summoned Beijing’s top envoy in Manila to press for Chinese ships to immediately leave the Whitsun Reef in the South China Sea, describing the escalating row as a “source of regional tension”.Officials from the two countries have traded acrimonious remarks since some 200 Chinese vessels, including some believed to be maritime militia, moored around the reef in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) last month, an incident Beijing insists was…