The Philippines on Sunday accused China's coast guard of blocking and water-cannoning a Philippine military supply boat in the South China Sea, condemning the "excessive and offensive actions" against its vessels.
China's coast guard countered that it had implemented necessary controls in accordance with the law to deter Philippine ships, which it accused of trespassing and carrying illegal building materials.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, an assertion rejected internationally, while Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines have various claims to certain areas.
Beijing often irks its neighbours with maritime actions they call aggressive and with longer-term activities like building islands on reefs and equipping them with missiles and runways.
A Chinese coast guard vessel on Saturday blocked and water-cannoned the chartered Philippine boat on a routine troop rotation and resupply mission, "in wanton disregard of the safety of the people on board and in violation of international law", the Armed Forces of the Philippines said.
It said in a statement the incident occurred near the Second Thomas Shoal, which Manila calls Ayungin Shoal, a submerged reef where a handful of its troops live on a rusty World War Two-era U.S. ship that was intentionally grounded in 1999.
The Chinese coast guard's "dangerous manoeuvres" prevented a second boat from unloading the supplies and completing the mission, it said.
"We call on the China Coast Guard and the Central Military Commission to act with prudence and be responsible in their actions to prevent miscalculations and accidents that will endanger peoples' lives," the armed forces said.
China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu responded that China has "indisputable" sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and their adjacent waters, including the Second Thomas Shoal.
"We urge the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringing activities in this waters," Gan posted on the coast guard's WeChat social media account.
The Philippine Coast Guard said the Chinese actions violated laws including two international conventions and a ruling from a global tribunal.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague concluded in 2016 that Beijing's expansive claim to the South China Sea was groundless. China maintains it does not accept any claim or action based on the ruling.
The Philippine Coast Guard "calls on the China Coast Guard to restrain its forces, respect the sovereign rights of the Philippines in its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, refrain from hampering freedom of navigation, and take appropriate actions against the individuals involved in this unlawful incident", said a spokesman, Commodore Jay Tarriela.
After the incident, the U.S. State Department said China's "repeated threats to the status quo in the South China Sea (were) directly threatening regional peace and stability" and that Washington stands with its Philippine allies in the face of such "dangerous actions".
"The United States reaffirms an armed attack on Philippine public vessels, aircraft, and armed forces - including those of its Coast Guard in the South China Sea - would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 U.S. Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty," it said in a statement.
© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023.
22 Comments
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Rodney
The Philippines has joined a military alliance with boss USA to start war with China, the area is part of China, so who wrote this article?
TaiwanIsNotChina
The US needs to sail a destroyer right up to any Chinese artificial reefs in the Philippines EEZ.
WA4TKG
Sink the chinese
EFD
We don't do pissing contests. If necessary we just blow them to bits. Ask the Wagner bois who got too big for their britches in Syria.
quercetum
No one in Asia calls it the South China Seas. What a stupid Anglicized name. It’s the South Seas or the East Seas or the West Philippines Seas depending on the country.
Since there is a dispute, Western countries should refrain from using the South China Seas and opt for a neutral name.
isabelle
Japan is in Asia, and Japan calls it "南シナ海": literally the South China Sea.
https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%8D%97%E3%82%B7%E3%83%8A%E6%B5%B7
RichardPearce
So, the folks who think that the American government can seize ships in violation of international law, harass ships sailing in their own country's waters halfway around the world from America are freaking out that China is copying American behavior in a sea that is called Chinese.
Like Trump freaking out about other people's lies, it would be amusing if it wasn't so dangerous.
TaiwanIsNotChina
The Phillipines isn't under any kind of internantional sanctions, nor is it doing anything that would historically cause that. Thank you for playing.
RichardPearce
Someone has conflated American/White Bloc sanctions for valid international sanctions, and American accusations of bad behavior for evidence of actual bad behavior, the sort of alternate facts thinking Trump and his crowd engage in.
TaiwanIsNotChina
China has no right to do anything to a Phillipine vessel in its EEZ, nor does it have the right to do anything to an American one. China needs to be pushed on this hard.
Desert Tortoise
I think Philippines and Japan should collaborate on designing and building heavily reinforced coast guard patrol ships designed to withstand shouldering and ramming.
They might also wish to collaborate on another class of patrol ship with high speed that can out run and out maneuver Chinese ships. It might be a wave piercing tri hull like the big auto and passenger ferries Austal builds for Fred Olsen Lines (ex: Benchijigua Express shown below) or maybe a surface effect ship along the lines of an enlarged version of Norways Skjold class patrol ships.
https://imgs.search.brave.com/XU1i-RBeKkVTdo8S5Sa6Mn-TJkog5Q5FV84N8PNWe2A/rs:fit:860:0:0/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWcu/bmF1dGljZXhwby5k/ZS9wZGYvcmVwb3Np/dG9yeV9uZS8yODAz/OS9iZW5jaGlqaWd1/YS1leHByZXNzLTM3/MTQzXzFtZy5qcGc
https://imgs.search.brave.com/twgZKH9ohFDi7Hor8dtBdzUXoI4QJcn8Iu0OycB45rc/rs:fit:860:0:0/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cu/ZGVmZW5jZXRhbGsu/Y29tL3dwLWNvbnRl/bnQvdXBsb2Fkcy8y/MDE2LzAxL1Nram9s/ZC1jbGFzcy1mYXN0/LW1pc3NpbGUtY29y/dmV0dGUuanBn
TaiwanIsNotChina
And make sure they have the biggest and baddest LRADs and LRAD protection while they are at it.
quercetum
You’re right on that. No countries surrounding the seas call it the South China Seas.
RichardPearce
I'm glad that TINC is admitting that the US has no right to seize ANY Russian or Iranian vessels, or to threaten Iranian vessels in their EEZ, which makes his previous claims last week that it did disingenuous.
And I hope he continues to admit that truth as the US continues to try and protect pirates and smugglers and vessels that have caused collisions in the Persian Gulf.
Desert Tortoise
I was thinking more along the lines of some remotely operated water guns spraying something that is more slippery than oil and smells really bad (:
TaiwanIsNotChina
You are just confirming that the US has every right to blow a petulant Chinese coast guard ship out of the water.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Every conflict except Vietnam and Afghanistan. Your hero China lost to Vietnam, too.
Jasper Cole
The operational actions of the CCP are flagrantly careless and seriously endanger regional peace and security. Furthermore, these actions flagrantly violate the Philippines' basic right to free navigation in the South China Sea, which is protected by international law.
theFu
But it has been disputed AND ruled by an internationally recognized tribunal. Chine isn't the owner. Speaking lies about claims doesn't make them true. Eventually, a Chinese ship will "disappear" near Philippine owned islands. Then everyone else in the world will deny knowing anything about it. That's where China is headed.
We do see that Russia paid trolls https://time.com/4457110/internet-trolls/ has been told to agree with Chinese expansion efforts. There is no shame, as long as they can cover it up or twist their actions through censorship back home. I remember when Russians were honorable. I hope some still are and that they gain power. The age of liars needs to end.