MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Chinese forces seized two Philippine rubber boats transporting food and other supplies to a military outpost in disputed waters in the South China Sea, wounding several Philippine navy personnel in a tense clash, Philippine security officials said Tuesday.
united states of america Warnings resume on Tuesday The day after the hours-long battle, the US said it had a duty to defend its treaty ally, the Philippines. Second Thomas SchollThe shoal is occupied by a small contingent of the Philippine Navy aboard a long-stranded warship that has been closely watched by China’s coast guard and navy in a long-running territorial dispute.
A territorial dispute in the South China Sea, long seen as a flashpoint in Asia, is escalating, threatening to draw the United States and China into a larger conflict. China and the Philippines blamed each other for Monday’s fighting, the deadliest in months, but offered few details.
A Philippine government task force monitoring the territorial dispute condemned “dangerous actions, including ramming and towing” of the stranded vessel, the BRP Sierra Madre, that prevented it from delivering food, water and other supplies to Filipinos stationed at the territorial outpost, but gave no details.
Two Philippine security officials with knowledge of the shallow water supply mission separately told The Associated Press that two rubber boats manned by Philippine navy crews had approached the shallow waters. BRP Sierra Madre The ship was in shallow waters attempting to deliver fresh supplies when several members of the China Coast Guard arrived in a speedboat and disrupted the mission, leading to scuffles and clashes.
At least eight Filipinos were injured in the melee, including one who lost a thumb, said one of the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were ordered not to speak publicly about the clash in international waters.
Five of the injured sailors were rescued by one of two Philippine Coast Guard patrol boats waiting offshore to assist the Navy in its resupply mission in shallow waters. The two rubber boats were towed by Chinese coast guard personnel and then abandoned after being damaged and emptied of their rifles and other equipment before being retrieved by the Philippine Navy, two officials said.
China’s coast guard offered a different version of the hostilities, saying the Philippines “bears full responsibility for the matter” and that the Philippine vessel “ignored China’s repeated and solemn warnings and made unprofessional and dangerous approaches to Chinese vessels on normal navigation, causing collisions.”
China’s Foreign Ministry said the supply ship was accompanied by two Philippine speedboats and was attempting to deliver construction materials and other supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre. It described the China Coast Guard’s actions as “professional, restrained, reasonable and lawful.”
US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell spoke by phone with his Philippine counterpart Maria Teresa Lazaro to discuss China’s actions. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the two agreed that China’s “dangerous actions threaten regional peace and stability.”
According to Miller, Campbell reaffirmed that the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, which commits Washington and Manila to defend each other in a major conflict, “extends to armed attack against Philippine military forces, public vessels, or aircraft, including those of the Coast Guard, anywhere in the South China Sea.”
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Monday night that his country’s military would resist “China’s dangerous and reckless actions” that are “contrary to China’s demonstration of good faith and decency.”
“We will do everything in our power to fulfill our sworn mission of safeguarding our territorial integrity, sovereignty and sovereign rights,” Teodoro said. “It should now be clear to the international community that China’s actions are a real obstacle to peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
Several other incidents have occurred in recent months near Second Thomas Shoal, less than 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the nearest Philippine coast and where the now rusting BRP Sierra Madre was deliberately run aground to create a territorial outpost in 1999. The vessel is an active warship and the Philippines could consider any attack on it an act of war.
China Becoming more and more assertive China has laid claim to virtually the entire South China Sea, resulting in increasing direct conflict with other countries in the region, notably the Philippines and Vietnam.
China’s new law, which came into force on Saturday, gives its coast guard the power to seize foreign vessels that “illegally enter China’s territorial waters” and detain foreign crew members for up to 60 days. The law makes fresh reference to a 2021 law that allows China’s coast guard to open fire on foreign vessels if necessary.
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Associated Press writers Aaron Favila and Joal Carpitan in Manila contributed to this report.
