The Philippines said coast guard personnel armed with knives and spears boarded its vessel during a clash off Second Thomas Shoal.
The Philippines has accused the China Coast Guard of acting “like pirates” after members armed with knives and spears boarded a supply ship at Second Thomas Shoal in the latest clash in the South China Sea dispute.
Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Bronner said the incident occurred on June 17 as the Philippine military was trying to resupply sailors stationed in the Sierra Madre islands, which Manila stranded on reefs in 1999.
“The China Coast Guard personnel were armed with knives, but our personnel fought with their bare hands,” he said in a Facebook statement on Wednesday. “We were outnumbered and their weapons were unexpected, but our personnel fought with everything they had.”
The Philippines said one crew member was seriously injured and the ship was damaged.
Bronner said the Coast Guard acted like pirates.
“Only pirates would do something like this,” he said. “Only pirates would board a ship, steal, and destroy the ship, its equipment and possessions.”
The situation at Second Thomas Shoal, about 195 kilometers (121 miles) off the western Philippine island of Palawan and within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), has become increasingly tense in recent months after China attempted to disrupt routine Philippine missions to the Sierra Madre mountain range.
Beijing has denied that its officials acted inappropriately.
“The law enforcement measures taken by the China Coast Guard at the scene were professional and restrained,” spokesman Lin Jian told a regular foreign ministry briefing on Wednesday, saying they were trying to thwart “illegal” supply activities.
CSAFP: “Our forces fired back.”
Philippine Army Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said soldiers conducting a rotation and resupply mission aboard BRP Sierra Madre (LS57) on Ayungin Shoal on June 17 fought back with “everything they had.” pic.twitter.com/fu6Ep4CPjp
— Philippine Army (@TeamAFP) June 19, 2024
Lin accused the Philippines of sending construction materials and “even arms and ammunition” to the rusting ship.
“China urges the Philippines to immediately end its infringements and provocative actions,” Lin said.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea under the so-called “nine-dash line” and continues to build artificial islands and military outposts on reefs and reefs despite an international tribunal ruling in 2016 that China’s claims have “no legal basis.”
China has used vessels from its coast guard, maritime militia and fishing fleet to back up its claims, and on Saturday began enforcing a 2021 law that allows its coast guard to use lethal force against foreign vessels in waters it claims and to detain alleged foreign “intruders” without trial.
China’s state-run tabloid Global Times published photos on Wednesday showing the China Coast Guard “seizing, boarding, inspecting and expelling Philippine vessels” at Second Thomas Shoal, an exercise that appears to have involved four vessels.
Aerial photos showed three Chinese vessels, two of them black-hulled rubber boats, pursuing the Philippine vessel, which appeared to be wedged between a coast guard vessel and one of the rubber boats.
Meanwhile, the Philippine military also released video of the incident, which shows two Chinese vessels approaching the small Philippine boat from either side. A third Chinese vessel can be seen close behind, with Chinese coast guard officers in orange life jackets boarding the besieged vessel. One appears to be holding an axe.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs condemned China’s “illegal and aggressive” actions in the incident and said in a statement that efforts were being made to “re-establish a conducive environment for dialogue and consultation with China over the South China Sea.”
“There will be no progress unless China’s words are matched by its actions at sea,” the ministry said, calling on Beijing to “act sincerely and responsibly.”
The ministry called on China to respect international law, particularly a 2016 ruling submitted by Manila after Beijing seized Scarborough Shoal after a months-long standoff.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), each country has an EEZ extending 200 nautical miles (about 370 kilometers) from its coast and has sovereign rights within that zone.
Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim parts of the South China Sea.
