Philippines accuses China of ‘piracy’ after ship boarded, sailor injured
Chinese personnel used knives and machetes to puncture Philippine dinghies attempting to resupply an outpost in the South China Sea, Philippine officials say.
By Sofia Tomacruz and Rebecca Tan
Chinese personnel used knives and machetes to puncture Philippine dinghies attempting to resupply an outpost in the South China Sea, Philippine officials say.
By Sofia Tomacruz and Rebecca Tan
WASHINGTON POST
June 19, 2024
![]()
MANILA — The Chinese coast guard boarded a Philippine navy vessel and damaged and confiscated equipment in a confrontation that left a sailor severely injured earlier this week, the Philippines announced Wednesday in a stark escalation of tensions over the disputed South China Sea.
According to Philippine officials, Chinese vessels on Monday rammed Philippine ships to stop them from resupplying a warship, the Sierra Madre, which has long been beached on a half-submerged reef 120 miles away from the Philippine province of Palawan and is at the center of the dispute between the two countries.
Chinese coast guard used knives and machetes to puncture Philippine rubber dinghies that were attempting to reach the outpost and confiscated equipment on Philippine navy vessels, officials said. One sailor’s hand was severely injured because it was caught in one of the rubber dinghies.
“This is piracy,” Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the Philippine armed forces’ chief of staff, said in a news conference held in Palawan. “They boarded our boats illegally, they took our equipment. They are like pirates with the actions they carried out.”
Chinese coast guard officials, in turn, said a Philippine supply ship had “deliberately and dangerously” approached a Chinese ship, causing a minor collision.
China has sought to dominate the South China Sea, a highly strategic waterway that is also claimed in part by six other governments. As the Philippines has ramped up its efforts to push back against the Chinese, it has been met with an increasingly forceful response that security analysts say could spur broader conflict in the Pacific.
The United States shares a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines and has stressed in recent months that an armed attack on Philippine military vessels or personnel in the South China Sea could trigger a U.S. military response. The U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, MaryKay Carlson, on Tuesday condemned China’s “aggressive, dangerous maneuvers” at sea but did not say whether or how the United States would respond. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Manila declined to answer questions on a potential U.S. response.
Earlier this month, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said at a security summit in Singapore that the death of a Filipino citizen through a “willful act” would be “close to an act of war” that could prompt a military response. “Our treaty partner holds that same standard,” he said, referring to the United States.
Tan reported from Singapore.
June 19, 2024
MANILA — The Chinese coast guard boarded a Philippine navy vessel and damaged and confiscated equipment in a confrontation that left a sailor severely injured earlier this week, the Philippines announced Wednesday in a stark escalation of tensions over the disputed South China Sea.
According to Philippine officials, Chinese vessels on Monday rammed Philippine ships to stop them from resupplying a warship, the Sierra Madre, which has long been beached on a half-submerged reef 120 miles away from the Philippine province of Palawan and is at the center of the dispute between the two countries.
Chinese coast guard used knives and machetes to puncture Philippine rubber dinghies that were attempting to reach the outpost and confiscated equipment on Philippine navy vessels, officials said. One sailor’s hand was severely injured because it was caught in one of the rubber dinghies.
“This is piracy,” Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the Philippine armed forces’ chief of staff, said in a news conference held in Palawan. “They boarded our boats illegally, they took our equipment. They are like pirates with the actions they carried out.”
Chinese coast guard officials, in turn, said a Philippine supply ship had “deliberately and dangerously” approached a Chinese ship, causing a minor collision.
China has sought to dominate the South China Sea, a highly strategic waterway that is also claimed in part by six other governments. As the Philippines has ramped up its efforts to push back against the Chinese, it has been met with an increasingly forceful response that security analysts say could spur broader conflict in the Pacific.
The United States shares a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines and has stressed in recent months that an armed attack on Philippine military vessels or personnel in the South China Sea could trigger a U.S. military response. The U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, MaryKay Carlson, on Tuesday condemned China’s “aggressive, dangerous maneuvers” at sea but did not say whether or how the United States would respond. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Manila declined to answer questions on a potential U.S. response.
Earlier this month, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said at a security summit in Singapore that the death of a Filipino citizen through a “willful act” would be “close to an act of war” that could prompt a military response. “Our treaty partner holds that same standard,” he said, referring to the United States.
Tan reported from Singapore.
Philippines accuses Chinese coast guard of boarding navy boats in South China Sea
The Philippine military said Wednesday that the Chinese coast guard rammed and boarded Filipino navy boats and seized their guns in the South China Sea this week in a confrontation that resulted in a Filipino sailor losing a thumb.
Issued on: 19/06/2024 - 10:26
The Chinese coast guard later "deliberately punctured" the Filipino boats, he said.
Philippine military chief General Romeo Brawner alleged the Chinese boarders were armed with swords, spears, and knives.
"This is the first time that we saw the Chinese coast guard carry bolos (a type of single-edged sword), spears, and knives. Our troops had none of those," Brawner told reporters.
Brawner said the seized guns were intended for Filipino troops manning the BRP Sierra Madre warship on the shoal.
"We fought back with our bare hands," Brawner said, noting the Filipino sailors were "outnumbered" by the Chinese coast guard contingent that comprised eight boats.
'Illegally rammed'
The Second Thomas Shoal lies about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometres from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan island.
Beijing claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, brushing aside competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines and an international ruling that its stance has no legal basis.
It deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waters and has turned several reefs into militarised artificial islands.
It has in recent months stepped up moves against Philippine vessels in the area around Second Thomas Shoal.
Read morePhilippine ship, Chinese vessel collide in disputed South China Sea
Speaking to reporters from Palawan – the major land mass closest to the shoal – Torres said the latest confrontation began when one of the Filipino boats was "illegally rammed" at "high speed" by a Chinese coast guard boat.
A Filipino Naval Special Operations Group member aboard the Filipino boat lost a thumb when the Chinese vessel landed on top of the bow, he added.
Brawner also flew to Palawan on Wednesday to visit the injured soldier, the military said.
(AFP)
The Philippine military said Wednesday that the Chinese coast guard rammed and boarded Filipino navy boats and seized their guns in the South China Sea this week in a confrontation that resulted in a Filipino sailor losing a thumb.
Issued on: 19/06/2024 - 10:26
Philippine Coast Guard personnel preparing rubber fenders after an incident with Chinese ships at the Second Thomas Shoal atoll on March 5, 2024. © Adrian Portugal, Reuters
The incident off Second Thomas Shoal, which hosts a tiny Philippine garrison stationed on a deliberately beached old warship, is the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in recent months as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims to the disputed area.
"The Chinese Coast Guard personnel illegally embarked on our RHIBS (rigid-hulled inflatable boats)," Rear Admiral Alfonso Torres told reporters in the first official Filipino account of the confrontation.
"They got some (guns)," said Torres, adding the firearms had been stored in the boats crewed by Filipino sailors, who were under orders not to display their weapons in Monday's confrontation.
The incident off Second Thomas Shoal, which hosts a tiny Philippine garrison stationed on a deliberately beached old warship, is the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in recent months as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims to the disputed area.
"The Chinese Coast Guard personnel illegally embarked on our RHIBS (rigid-hulled inflatable boats)," Rear Admiral Alfonso Torres told reporters in the first official Filipino account of the confrontation.
"They got some (guns)," said Torres, adding the firearms had been stored in the boats crewed by Filipino sailors, who were under orders not to display their weapons in Monday's confrontation.
43:51 Reporters © FRANCE 24
The Chinese coast guard later "deliberately punctured" the Filipino boats, he said.
Philippine military chief General Romeo Brawner alleged the Chinese boarders were armed with swords, spears, and knives.
"This is the first time that we saw the Chinese coast guard carry bolos (a type of single-edged sword), spears, and knives. Our troops had none of those," Brawner told reporters.
Brawner said the seized guns were intended for Filipino troops manning the BRP Sierra Madre warship on the shoal.
"We fought back with our bare hands," Brawner said, noting the Filipino sailors were "outnumbered" by the Chinese coast guard contingent that comprised eight boats.
'Illegally rammed'
The Second Thomas Shoal lies about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometres from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan island.
Beijing claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, brushing aside competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines and an international ruling that its stance has no legal basis.
It deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waters and has turned several reefs into militarised artificial islands.
It has in recent months stepped up moves against Philippine vessels in the area around Second Thomas Shoal.
Read morePhilippine ship, Chinese vessel collide in disputed South China Sea
Speaking to reporters from Palawan – the major land mass closest to the shoal – Torres said the latest confrontation began when one of the Filipino boats was "illegally rammed" at "high speed" by a Chinese coast guard boat.
A Filipino Naval Special Operations Group member aboard the Filipino boat lost a thumb when the Chinese vessel landed on top of the bow, he added.
Brawner also flew to Palawan on Wednesday to visit the injured soldier, the military said.
(AFP)
8 Philippines sailors injured in recent incident with China in South China Sea
Chinese Coast Guard blocked, boarded, searched Philippines vessel on Monday, reports local media
Islam Uddin
Chinese Coast Guard blocked, boarded, searched Philippines vessel on Monday, reports local media
Islam Uddin
19.06.2024
ANKARA
At least eight Philippines sailors were injured on Monday when China Coast Guard 'searched' a Philippines vessel in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, local media reported on Wednesday.
During a confrontation between the two countries' forces in the disputed South China Sea, the finger of a soldier was also cut off, Philippine media outlet Inquirer reported citing official sources.
On Tuesday, armed forces of the Philippines confirmed that one Navy sailor sustained a “severe injury” after an “intentional high-speed ramming” by the China Coast Guard (CCG) during the resupply mission.
Filipino officials also claimed that Chinese CCG personnel punctured navy boats using their bolos and also seized their guns.
“We have arms, but we did not use those. We don’t want to start a war," the media outlet quoted Philippines chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. as saying and added their soldiers fought with bare hands to prevent Chinese CCG from hitting them.
On Monday, China Coast Guard (CCG) personnel “blocked, boarded, searched” a Philippines vessel which “intruded” into waters near Ren'ai, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, South China Sea.
During a fresh escalation, CCG forces forcefully expelled the Philippines vessel from the disputed waters where it “attempted to send materials to its illegally grounded warship,” said the CCG.
It was the first time since the CCG implemented its new rules of engagements in the vast disputed sea on Saturday.
Under the new guidelines, China can detain suspected trespassers for up to 60 days.
The Philippine ship was on a resupply mission to a grounded World War II-era warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, on the shoal claimed both by Beijing and Manila.
While Beijing accused Manila of “violating” the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea, the latter called China's claims “deceptive and misleading.”
The two maritime neighbors have conflicting claims over the Second Thomas Shoal — also known as the Ayungin Shoal, Bai Co May, and Ren'ai Jiao — a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
ANKARA
At least eight Philippines sailors were injured on Monday when China Coast Guard 'searched' a Philippines vessel in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, local media reported on Wednesday.
During a confrontation between the two countries' forces in the disputed South China Sea, the finger of a soldier was also cut off, Philippine media outlet Inquirer reported citing official sources.
On Tuesday, armed forces of the Philippines confirmed that one Navy sailor sustained a “severe injury” after an “intentional high-speed ramming” by the China Coast Guard (CCG) during the resupply mission.
Filipino officials also claimed that Chinese CCG personnel punctured navy boats using their bolos and also seized their guns.
“We have arms, but we did not use those. We don’t want to start a war," the media outlet quoted Philippines chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. as saying and added their soldiers fought with bare hands to prevent Chinese CCG from hitting them.
On Monday, China Coast Guard (CCG) personnel “blocked, boarded, searched” a Philippines vessel which “intruded” into waters near Ren'ai, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, South China Sea.
During a fresh escalation, CCG forces forcefully expelled the Philippines vessel from the disputed waters where it “attempted to send materials to its illegally grounded warship,” said the CCG.
It was the first time since the CCG implemented its new rules of engagements in the vast disputed sea on Saturday.
Under the new guidelines, China can detain suspected trespassers for up to 60 days.
The Philippine ship was on a resupply mission to a grounded World War II-era warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, on the shoal claimed both by Beijing and Manila.
While Beijing accused Manila of “violating” the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea, the latter called China's claims “deceptive and misleading.”
The two maritime neighbors have conflicting claims over the Second Thomas Shoal — also known as the Ayungin Shoal, Bai Co May, and Ren'ai Jiao — a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
No comments:
Post a Comment