The government of Philippines released a video of the incident in which a sailor suffered serious injuries in a collision in South China Sea. The Philippine Army accused the Chinese coast guard of “deliberately pierce” their inflatable boats and “to sack” weapons of his troops during an incident that took place on Monday in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
“Our boats were deliberately drilled by the Chinese coast guard”, stressed the head of the Western Command of the Philippine Armed Forces, Alfonso Torres Jr.who added that during the alleged attack they used “knives and other sharp objects” to do it.
The event took place on Monday and since then both parties, engaged in disputes over several territories in the South China Sea, have been releasing details about their version of what happened.
According to China, a Philippine supply ship and a Chinese coast guard collided on Monday in waters adjacent to Second Thomas Atoll, in the South China Sea and claimed by the two countries, because the former “ignored repeated Chinese warnings (…) and approached the Chinese ship in an unprofessional manner.”
The Philippine Army, which has kept a handful of troops stationed on a ship stranded on that atoll since 1999, the Sierra Madre, which it supplies in operations such as the one affected by this event, denied the accusations and noted that The Chinese coast guard “illegally boarded” his boat and “stole” firearms that they were guarding in this place, Torres stated.
“This is already piracy“, denounced the head of the Philippine Army, General Romeo Browner.
Likewise, they stressed that one of the Filipino sailors was “seriously injured”, as had already emerged before, in addition to several minor injuries.
“The (Chinese) coast guard was not only reckless and aggressive, but also engaged in illegal actions and they have no right to intercept our operations,” Brawner added.
This is not the first time that ships from China and the Philippines have collided or clashed in those same waters, key to the transit of world trade and rich in resources.
The incidents, normally minor, are usually followed by an exchange of accusations between the Armies and Governments of both countries, which, although they have become common, increasingly raise the tension between Beijing and Manila, which has a mutual defense agreement with Washington.
In addition to this atoll, Both countries dispute sovereignty over Scarborough Reefnear the Philippine island of Luzon, and several islands in the archipelago of the Spratlywhere Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan also maintain claims.
Philippine authorities claim that the atolls are within 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) of its economic exclusivity zone, which under international law gives it the right to exploit resources even if they are in international waters.
Beijing, which has a much larger fleet than the Philippines, cites historical reasons for claiming almost the entire South China Sea.
Tensions between China and the Philippines have increased since Ferdinand Marcos Jr. came to power in 2022which has strengthened its military alliance with the United States, in contrast to the turn towards Beijing of its predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
(With information from EFE)
