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”. Dr Collin Koh, Research Fellow at Singapore’s RSIS, said China could be trying to “create a fait accompli that will push the victim – in this case the Philippines –  towards a few limited courses of action”.