As two Philippine ships meet on the high seas to transfer a sick Filipino soldier, Chinese coast guard boats follow, block and ram them, according to video from Manila.
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ADDS details of separate incident at Sabina Shoal
As two Philippine ships meet on the high seas to transfer a sick Filipino soldier, Chinese coast guard boats follow, block and ram them, according to a video released Friday by the Philippine Coast Guard.
The incident occurred last month during the medical evacuation of a soldier stationed on a stranded Philippine Navy ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, on the Second Thomas Reef in the disputed South China Sea.
The Philippine Coast Guard said it deployed a boat on May 19 to retrieve the soldier from a Philippine Navy speedboat and informed the Chinese Coast Guard of the “humanitarian nature” of their mission.
In a series of videos released by the Philippine Coast Guard, a Chinese-flagged inflatable speedboat is seen hitting the two stationary Philippine ships as they prepare to transfer the patient.
Other boats – identified by the Philippines as belonging to the Chinese Coast Guard – are also seen monitoring and blocking the path of the Philippine Coast Guard boat.
The Chinese boats “engaged in dangerous maneuvers” and “intentionally rammed” the Philippine navy ship, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Jay Tarriela said in a statement.
This screenshot released by the Philippine Coast Guard shows Chinese Coast Guard personnel (right) aboard a rigid inflatable boat blocking a Philippine boat.
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“The barbaric and inhumane behavior displayed by the Chinese coast guard has no place in our society,” Tarriela said.
“What should have been a simple medical evacuation operation was subject to harassment,” he said.
“Their actions clearly demonstrated their intent to prevent sick staff from receiving urgently needed medical care.”
China’s Foreign Ministry said in response to the accusation that it could “allow” the Philippines to deliver “necessary supplies” and evacuate personnel from the Sierra Madre if Beijing was informed in advance.
“However, the Philippines should not use this as an excuse to ship construction materials to the deliberately beached warship with the aim of permanently occupying the Ren’ai Reef,” spokeswoman Mao Ning said. using the Chinese name for Second Thomas Shoal.
Beijing claims almost the entire waterway and there have been a series of clashes involving Chinese and Philippine ships near disputed reefs, often around the Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.
Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometers from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan Island. .
The Filipino soldier was eventually loaded onto the Philippine Coast Guard boat and taken to Palawan, where he was hospitalized.
The Philippines did not provide details on the soldier’s condition.
Other videos released by the Philippines on Friday showed Chinese coast guard vessels observing three Philippine Coast Guard speedboats carrying marine scientists from the University of the Philippines this week.
The scientists were examining crushed coral found on two sandbars in Sabina Shoal, also in the Spratlys.
A video showed a Chinese inflatable speedboat pushing one of the Filipino boats.
The Philippine military said Tuesday that Chinese boats illegally “seized” food and medicine dropped on May 19 to troops garrisoned in the Sierra Madre.
It was the first time supplies had been seized, he added.
Chinese personnel on board the boats then dumped the items into the water, said Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea.
China rejects rival claims by other countries in the South China Sea, including the Philippines, and ignores an international ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
To assert its position, Beijing deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waters and has transformed several reefs into artificial islands that it has militarized.
Chinese coast guard ships have used water cannons against Philippine boats several times in the disputed waters, where collisions have also occurred that injured several Filipino soldiers.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said in a defiant speech at a security forum in Singapore last week that he would not bow to Chinese pressure.
