This screengrab shows Chinese coast guard personnel (L,R) aboard their inflatable boats blocking Philippine navy boats (C) during a confrontation at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. (Armed Forces Of The Philippines-Public Affairs Office/AFP)
- Filipino and Chinese sailors had a brawl at sea.
- Chinese personnel boarded a vessel, says the Philippines.
- The incident happened when Filipino soldiers attempted to resupply sailors stationed on the Sierra Madre.
The Philippines has accused the China Coast Guard of acting “like pirates”, saying personnel armed with knives and spears boarded their resupply vessels at Second Thomas Shoal in the latest confrontation in the disputed South China Sea.
Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces General Romeo Brawner said the incident took place on 17 June as Filipino soldiers attempted to resupply sailors stationed on the Sierra Madre, which Manila grounded on the reef in 1999.
“The Chinese Coast Guard personnel had bladed weapons and our personnel fought with bare hands,” he wrote in a statement on Facebook on Wednesday.
“We were outnumbered and their weapons were unexpected but our personnel fought with everything that they had.”
The Philippines said one of their sailors was badly injured, and the boats were damaged.
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Brawner said the coastguard had acted like pirates.
He said:
“Only pirates board, steal, and destroy ships, equipment, and belongings.”
The situation at Second Thomas Shoal, which lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) about 195km from the western Philippine island of Palawan, has become increasingly fraught in recent months with China attempting to disrupt the Philippines’ regular missions to the Sierra Madre.
Beijing denied its personnel acted inappropriately.
“The law enforcement action taken by China Coast Guard on the scene was professional and restrained,” spokesperson Lin Jian said at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ regular news conference on Wednesday, saying they were trying to stop a resupply mission that was “illegal”.
This handout photo shows Chinese Coast Guard personnel aboard their rigid inflatable boat, blocking a Philippine Coast Guard rigid inflatable boat carrying marine scientists in the waters of the South China Sea. (Handout/Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)/AFP)
Lin accused the Philippines of sending construction material and “even weapons and ammunition” to the rusting ship.
“China urges the Philippines to stop its infringement and provocation at once,” Lin said.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea under its so-called nine-dash line and has continued to build artificial islands and military outposts on outcrops and reefs despite an international tribunal ruling its claim to have “no legal basis” in 2016.
Beijing has backed up its claims with ships from its coastguard, maritime militia and fishing fleets, and on Saturday, it began enforcing a 2021 law that China says allows its coastguard to use lethal force against foreign ships in waters that it claims, and to detain alleged foreign “trespassers” without trial.
The Global Times, a Chinese state-run tabloid, on Wednesday published photos that it said showed the China Coast Guard’s “interception, boarding, inspection and expelling of Philippine vessels” at Second Thomas Shoal in a manoeuvre that appeared to involve four boats.
The CCG swarmed AFP’s Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs) already moored alongside BRP Sierra Madre (LS57), escalating their aggression by wielding pointed weapons and explicitly threatening to harm Filipino troops. pic.twitter.com/huEPCBXPah
— Armed Forces of the Philippines (@TeamAFP) June 19, 2024
One picture, taken from the air, showed three Chinese vessels – two of them black-hulled inflatables – chasing down a Philippine boat, which appeared to be sandwiched between a coastguard ship and one of the inflatables.
The Philippines military, meanwhile, shared its own video of the incident.
It appeared to show two Chinese vessels approaching a smaller Philippine ship from either side.
A third Chinese boat was visible close behind with Chinese coastguard personnel in orange life jackets then boarding the encircled vessel. One appeared to be carrying an axe.
This handout photograph shows destroyed communication and navigational equipment including a cellular phone of a Philippine navy boat. (Armed Forces Of The Philippines-Public Affairs Office/AFP)
The Philippines’ Foreign Ministry condemned China’s “illegal and aggressive” behaviour in the latest incident, noting in a statement that efforts were being made “to rebuild a conducive environment for dialogue and consultation with China on the South China Sea”.
It said no progress would be made if “China’s words do not match their actions on the waters” and urged Beijing to “act sincerely and responsibly”.
The ministry urged China to respect international law and the 2016 ruling, in particular, which Manila filed after Beijing seized Scarborough Shoal following a months-long standoff.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), each country has an EEZ extending around 370km from their coast over which it has sovereign rights.
Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim parts of the South China Sea.
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