3 troops injured in Chinese water cannon attack: Manila
The actions are destabilising to the region and show clear disregard for international law, says US State Department spokesman
Three Philippine troops were injured in the latest China Coast Guard water cannon atack on a Filipino supply vessel near a South China Sea reef, Manila’s national security adviser said on Sunday.
The Philippine government said Saturday’s confrontation caused severe damage to the Unaizah May 4 vessel while it was on its way to deliver troops and provisions to a Philippine navy ship grounded atop the Second Thomas Shoal.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said three navy personnel aboard the vessel were injured in Saturday’s incident.
The extent and nature of their injuries were not disclosed, though the military said the personnel were treated aboard a coast guard escort ship.
Four crew members were injured by broken glass in an earlier China Coast Guard water cannon atack on the same vessel on March 5.
“This is just an ordinary rotation and resupply or provision operation but look at how the Chinese are reacting,” Ano told reporters, according to an interview transcript shared with AFP.
The United States, which has a mutual defence pact with Manila, has denounced the atack.
“The (Chinese) actions are destabilising to the region and show clear disregard for international law,” State Department spokesman Mathew Miller said in a statement, reaffirming Washington’s mutual defence treaty commitments to Manila.
The China Coast Guard has defended its actions, describing them as “lawful regulation, interception and expulsion” of a foreign vessel that “tried to forcefully intrude” into Chinese waters.
Ano said the damaged vessel has returned to the western province of Palawan ater its crew managed to restart its engine.
“We will not be deterred. We will not be intimidated,” he said, vowing the Philippines would continue to resupply the garrison on Second Thomas Shoal.
China’s defence ministry warned the Philippines against “provocative” actions and said China would safeguard its territorial sovereignty on Sunday.
“We warn the Philippines to stop making any remarks that may lead to the intensification of conflicts and escalation of the situation, and stop all infringing and provocative actions,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
“If the Philippines repeatedly challenges China’s botom line, China will continue to take firm and decisive measures to firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” the statement continued.
Recently, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said that his country did not reject China’s proposals on managing disputes in the South China Sea, but said that, since they stood on a questionable premise, it was “difficult to see a way forward.” “We have not rejected any proposals that China has made to us but the premise is something that we questioned that premise that China has made is that their territory follows what is now described as a 10 dash line,” Marcos said at a joint briefing with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Marcos, who was on a working visit in Germany, said China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea were “not recognised by any country, any international body, certainly not by the Philippines.” Chinese foreign ministry said it “has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea Islands.” “China and the Philippines have no territorial disputes in the South China Sea,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said.
Wang said China had put forward initiatives to the Philippines “to control the maritime situation and work together.” “Unfortunately, the Philippines didn’t reply, but made provocations and infringements in the South China Sea, undermining the atmosphere of co-operation,” Wang said.
The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it had received several maritime-related proposals from China, but that they could not be considered because they were against the Southeast Asian country’s national interests. Among the latest proposals from China was one where it “insisted on actions that would be deemed as acquiescence or recognition of China’s control and administration over the Ayungin Shoal.”