The Philippines claimed that Chinese coast guard and maritime police ships “deliberately” rammed their ship carrying Philippine Armed Forces Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner.
This was reported by Reuters.
According to official Manila, Chinese ships “repeatedly fired water cannons at Philippine supply vessels, causing serious engine damage to one of them.”
In addition, according to Brauner, the other vessel was “deliberately rammed.” According to him, he was on board at that very moment.
“This is a serious escalation on the part of the People’s Republic of China,” said Jonathan Malaya, spokesman for the National Security Council.
At a press conference, Philippine officials showed evidentiary images and videos of water cannons and battering rams.
Browner told the Philippine radio station DZBB that he was not injured in the incident and that he “does not believe China knew he was on board the ship.”
The Philippines lodged a diplomatic protest and summoned China’s ambassador over its “aggressive” actions in the South China Sea, which, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, pose a “threat to peace, order and security.”
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China claims virtually the entire South China Sea and refuses to recognize the claims of the Philippines and four other countries to part or all of the waterway. Beijing has rejected the findings of a UN-backed arbitration tribunal that invalidated China’s large-scale historical claims under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. China calls almost any actions of the Philippines in the South China Sea “illegal” and sometimes “provocative”.
