MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The head of the Philippine military on Wednesday demanded that China return several rifles and equipment. Seized by the China Coast Guard He likened the attacks in the disputed shallow waters to acts of piracy in the South China Sea and said he would seek damages.
Philippine officials said Chinese personnel in more than eight motorboats repeatedly rammed and boarded two Philippine navy rubber boats on Monday, preventing Philippine naval personnel from transferring food and other supplies, including firearms, to a Philippine-owned base on Second Thomas Shoal, which is also claimed by Beijing.
After skirmishes and repeated clashes, Chinese forces seized the boat and destroyed it with machetes, knives and hammers, also seizing eight cased M4 rifles, navigation equipment and other materials and wounding several Philippine navy personnel, including one who lost his right thumb, two Philippine security officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the sensitive dispute.
Video and photos released by the Philippine military on Wednesday night showed a chaotic clash in shallow waters with Chinese personnel on board brandishing knives, axes and sticks surrounding two Philippine Navy supply ships near the Manila shipyard. Sirens blared incessantly, both sides yelled at each other and the Chinese personnel hit the Philippine Navy vessels with sticks and grabbed what appeared to be bags with them.
Photos showed a Philippine Navy vessel with its side floats slashed and deflated, and another with its windshield and navigation screen shattered, as a man showed a damaged mobile phone.
“We are asking China to return the rifles and the equipment. We are also asking for compensation for the damage they caused,” Philippine military commander Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said at a news conference in the western province of Palawan, where he presented a medal to the wounded naval officer.
“They illegally boarded our vessel and took our equipment,” Bronner said. “They’re now acting like pirates for this.”
Chinese coast guard officers armed with long knives and machetes tried to hit the unarmed Filipinos, but the Filipinos fought back with their bare hands, pushing the Chinese back, Bronner said. “Our goal is also to prevent war.”
Some of the Chinese reportedly pointed knives at Philippine Navy personnel.
China blamed the Philippines for the clash, saying its personnel ignored Chinese warnings and “invaded” shallow waters.
“This is the direct cause of the incident,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in Beijing. “The China Coast Guard on the scene took restrained but professional law enforcement measures, aiming to thwart the illegal replenishment activities of the Philippine vessel, but no direct measures were taken against the Filipinos.”
The US reissued the warning on Tuesday. We have a duty to protect the Philippines. Treaty Allies.
Second Thomas Shoal, part of the disputed Spratly Islands, is occupied by a small Philippine navy force aboard a stranded warship that has been closely watched by China’s coast guard and navy in a years-long territorial dispute that has seen China claim almost the entire South China Sea.
The dispute in the South China Sea, long seen as a flashpoint in Asia, This could escalate and draw the US and China into a larger conflict. Besides China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have territorial claims in the busy waterway.
Since last year, hostilities between China and the Philippines have intensified, especially in disputed waters. Second Thomas SchollLocated less than 200 nautical miles (370 km) from the Philippine coast is the now rusting BRP Sierra Madre, which was deliberately run aground in 1999 to create a base from which to claim sovereignty. The ship is an active warship, and the Philippines could consider any attack on it an act of war.
