"Welcome to China" greets Philippine officials during visit to disputed island

As the Philippine Coast Guard plane descended toward the country's most strategically important outpost in the disputed South China Sea, passengers' phones lit up with a roaming alert: "Welcome to CHINA."

Among those on board were Senator Risa Hontiveros and Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela, both outspoken critics of Beijing's actions in the South China Sea.

After landing on Saturday, they spoke to island residents to reaffirm that Thitu Island, "is ours", even as Chinese Coast Guard vessels, a People's Liberation Army Navy ship, and some Chinese fishing boats lingered within sight of the shore. China's persistent presence has pushed islanders, who rely on those waters for their livelihood, farther from the sea they once freely navigated.

At just 37 hectares (0.37 square kilometres), the coral-fringed Thitu, known to Filipinos as Pag-asa, or "Hope", is the largest and most prized of the nine Philippines-held features in the Spratly archipelago, located 450 kilometres (280 miles) from the mainland.