July 20 (UPI) — The Philippine military accused China of beating and injuring a Philippine Navy sailor with a wooden baton in the latest seaborne confrontation between the two nations over a submerged reef in the disputed South China Sea.
The incident occurred Monday morning near the BRP Sierra Madre, a derelict warship the Philippines intentionally grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal, a reef both countries lay claim to and which the Philippines calls Ayungin Shoal and China, Ren’ai Jiao.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines said in a statement that a China Coast Guard rigid-hull inflatable boat with eight people on board unlawfully approached the BRP Sierra Madre and took pictures and video of it.
While two AFP rubber boats drove it away, China Coast Guard personnel on the boat struck a Philippine Navy sailor on his head with a wooden baton. The man suffered a deep gash on his scalp, according to a picture shared online by Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela.
Video of the incident posted online by Tarriela shows some China Coast Guard members aboard a larger boat swinging long sticks down upon members of the Philippine Navy in a smaller rubber boat.
“Striking an unarmed sailor on the head with a baton — inside our own exclusive economic zone — is not law enforcement. It is unlawful aggression, plain and simple,” Tarriela said in a statement.
China has rejected the accusation, accusing the Philippines of instigating the incident.
“The Philippine personnel first launched malicious attacks on Chinese law enforcement officers using oars, long poles and other tools,” the China Coast Guard said in a statement published online by China’s Embassy in Manila.
“The Chinese side, acting in full compliance with laws and regulations, employed measures such as verbal warnings, evasive maneuvering and proportionate countermeasures to stabilize the situation on site, while exercising the utmost rationality and restraint.”
At roughly 105 nautical miles west of Palawan, the Second Thomas Shoal is well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. The Philippines beached its Sierra Madre warship on the disputed submerged reef in 1999, which it has manned since in an effort to protect its maritime claims.
However, China lays claim to the Second Thomas Shoal and much of the South China Sea via its Nine-Dash-Line map, which has been rejected by several nations, including the United States. The Hague’s Permanent Court of Arbitration also rejected China’s sweeping maritime claims in a landmark 2016 ruling in a case brought by Manila. Beijing rejects the ruling.
Following the incident, the China Coast Guard said in a statement that it would continue to “carry out rights protection and law enforcement activities” and “firmly safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”
The U.S. State Department late Monday issued a statement in support of the Philippines, condemning “China’s dangerous and aggressive actions against Philippine navy personnel.”
State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott said the United States calls on China to “immediately cease its destabilizing conduct.”
“China’s troubling pattern of provocation against lawful Philippine maritime operations undermines regional peace and stability and directly contradicts China’s repeated commitments to resolve disputes peacefully,” he said.
“We stand with our ally, the Philippines, and commend the professionalism and restraint shown by the Philippine navy personnel in this incident.”
Pigott added that the United States reaffirms the 2016 tribunal ruling as final and legally binding on both China and the Philippines.
