MANILA – The Philippines on Sunday accused China’s coast guard of blocking and water-cannoning a Philippine military supply boat in the disputed South China Sea, condemning the “excessive and offensive actions” against its vessels.
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 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 II-era United States ship that was intentionally grounded in 1999, it added.
The Chinese coast guard’s “dangerous manoeuvres” prevented a second boat from unloading the supplies and completing the mission.
“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 people’s lives,” the armed forces said.
China responded to Manila’s accusations by saying it had taken “necessary controls” against Philippine boats that had “illegally” entered its waters.
“Two repair ships and two coast guard ships from the Philippines illegally broke into the waters... in China’s Nansha Islands,” China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu said. He added that Beijing had “implemented necessary controls in accordance with the law and stopped Philippine ships carrying illegal building materials”.
China has “indisputable” sovereignty over the Spratly Islands and their adjacent waters, including the Second Thomas Shoal, Mr Gan said.
“We urge the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringing activities in this waters,” the spokesman posted on the coast guard’s WeChat social media account.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, an assertion rejected internationally.
Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines have various claims to certain areas.
It is said that 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.
The Philippine Coast Guard said the latest 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 US 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 US mutual defence commitments under Article IV of the 1951 US Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty,” it said in a statement.
REUTERS
