South China Sea_ A Tinderbox on the Brink
The air crackled with tension. It was March 2024, and a Philippine resupply vessel, its paint peeling and rust blooming like a macabre flower, limped towards Second Thomas Shoal. Its mission: to deliver vital supplies to a handful of Filipino marines stationed aboard the BRP Sierra Madre, a decaying warship intentionally grounded on the shoal…
