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The Philippine military denounced China’s latest actions in the hotly disputed South China Sea, saying that a confrontation earlier this week resulted in a Filipino navy serviceman losing a finger.
In a press conference Wednesday, Alfonso Torres Jr., commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Command, said China Coast Guard personnel “illegally boarded” Philippine rubber boats that were conducting a routine resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded vessel at the Second Thomas Shoal, on Monday.
Torres said the Chinese also “looted” seven of the Philippine navy’s rifles, which were disassembled inside gun cases and were supposed to be for Filipino servicemen stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre, which has functioned as an outpost to maintain the Philippines’ claim to the shoal.
Eight Philippine navy personnel reportedly sustained injuries, though the military has only confirmed one victim: a sailor whose right thumb got severed after the China Coast Guard reportedly rammed the Philippine boats.
“Because of the speed, the forward portion of the China Coast Guard’s RHIB [rigid-hull inflatable boat] landed on top of our troop’s RHIB, and unfortunately our troop’s hand was there,” Torres said. “It’s a relief that it wasn’t the whole hand.”
AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said the standoff, the latest in a series of escalations in the disputed waterway, marked the first time Filipino troops encountered Chinese coast guard members armed with bladed weapons like bolos, knives, and spears, which they allegedly used to pierce through Philippine Navy boats. “We saw in the video how the Chinese even threatened our personnel by pointing their knives,” Brawner said.
Brawner said the AFP demands that Beijing return the disassembled rifles. “We are also demanding from them to pay for the damages that they have caused,” he added. “For me, this is piracy already… Because they boarded our boats illegally. They got our equipment. Again, based on their actions, it’s like they are pirates.”
The Philippines’ foreign affairs department said it “denounces the illegal and aggressive actions of Chinese authorities that resulted in personnel injury and vessel damage.”
China’s foreign ministry earlier commented on the latest South China Sea incident, claiming that its “maneuvers at the scene were professional, restrained, justified and lawful.”
The clash came just days after a Chinese administrative law took effect, effectively authorizing the China Coast Guard to arrest foreign vessels which “illegally enter China’s territorial waters” and to detain foreign crews for up to 60 days.
But the Philippines and its allies, including the United States, disagree, continuing to point to an international tribunal ruling invalidating China’s claims to the sea that China ignores.
The U.S. State Department on Monday condemned China’s actions, which it said “threatens regional peace and stability,” and reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to a mutual defense treaty with Manila, which is meant to come into effect should Philippine forces face an “armed attack.”
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