A rotting warship becomes a flashpoint for Sino-American rivalry
Its Philippine guards hold out against China’s expansion in the South China Sea
SHE BEGAN life as USS LST-821, an American wartime landing ship for tanks. As the USS Harnett County, she became a base for river boats and helicopter gunships during the Vietnam war. Later as South Vietnam’s My Tho, she carried refugees fleeing the fall of Saigon in 1975. Now a rusting hulk named the BRP Sierra Madre, she is serving in what may be her most celebrated role yet—as a Philippine outpost defying mighty China.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Dangerous shoals”
From the August 12th 2023 edition
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