Two international locations concerned in a second incident this month at disputed Second Thomas Shoal.
Manila has accused China’s coastguard of firing water cannon at considered one of its provide boats, within the newest incident between the 2 international locations within the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippine army mentioned the Saturday morning confrontation lasted for practically an hour and occurred because it sought to resupply a small garrison of sailors on board the sunken Sierra Madre off Second Thomas Shoal.
The shoal, referred to as Ayungin within the Philippines, has been the location of a number of related stand-offs in current months. It lies about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan, and greater than 1,000 kilometres (621 miles) from China’s southern Hainan island.
The army launched a video clip displaying a white ship marked China Coast Guard crossing the bow of a gray vessel it recognized because the Philippine provide boat Unaizah Could 4, and unleashing its water cannon.
“The UM4 provide boat sustained heavy damages at round 08:52 (00:52 GMT) because of the continued blasting of water cannons from the CCG vessels,” the army mentioned in a press release, with out going into element in regards to the harm.
A Philippine Coast Guard escort vessel later reached the broken boat “to supply help”, the army mentioned.
Gan Yu, a spokesman for the China Coast Guard, mentioned that the Philippine convoy “forcibly intruded into the world regardless of the Chinese language facet’s repeated warnings and route controls”, including the Chinese language carried out “management, obstruction and eviction in accordance with regulation”.
China claims virtually your entire South China Sea, regardless of a world court docket discovering in 2016 that the nine-dash line on which it bases its declare was with out advantage. The Philippines claims areas of the ocean round its coasts as do Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. The self-ruled island of Taiwan can also be a claimant.
Manila has revived and expanded its army ties with america, a longtime ally, because the state of affairs has change into extra tense.
America lays no claims to the strategic waters however has despatched Navy ships on transit missions by means of the waterway in what it calls “freedom of navigation” operations, which have been criticised by China.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Philippines final week and careworn the US dedication to Manila was “ironclad”.
Two days after that go to, the Chinese language coastguard additionally tried to drive away Filipino scientists who landed on two cays close to Scarborough Shoal, a contested South China Sea outcrop that Beijing seized from the Philippines after a months-long standoff in 2012.
The Unaizah Could 4 had returned to sea after being broken in a China Coast Guard water cannon assault off Second Thomas Shoal earlier this month, It was escorted by two Filipino coastguard vessels and two Philippine Navy ships, a Philippine army assertion mentioned.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for South China Sea points, mentioned in a separate assertion that one of many escort vessels, the BRP Cabra, was “impeded and encircled” by three Chinese language coastguard and different vessels early Saturday.
Because of this, Cabra was “remoted from the resupply boat because of the irresponsible and provocative behaviour of the Chinese language maritime forces”, he added.
The Chinese language facet confirmed a “disregard” for the Conference on the Worldwide Laws for Stopping Collisions at Sea (COLREGS), the assertion mentioned.
The Sierra Madre was run aground in 1999 and the troops residing on the warship want frequent resupplies of meals, water and different requirements.
