Philippine Coast Guard authorities are revealed pulling the broken resupply vessel M/L Kalayaan back to port on Sunday following a conflict with Chinese military vessels at a challenged shoal in the South China Sea. Picture courtesy Philippine Coast Guard/X
Dec. 10 (UPI)– The Philippines and China traded allegations Sunday over a conflict in between the Chinese Coast Guard and Filipino supply ships in a location of the South China Sea near a contested shoal. The Philippine Coast Guard stated a supply ship, Unaizah Mae 1, was “rammed” by a Chinese military vessel as it approached the Second Thomas Shoal. It is understood in the Philippines as Avungin Shoal, an immersed reef in the Spratly Islands of the South China Sea situated 121 miles west of Palawan, Philippines. The reef is inhabited by Philippine Navy workers aboard a purposefully grounded ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, which is frequently resupplied by other Filipino vessels. Manila declares the reef is within its special financial zone– an assertion challenged by Beijing, along with by Vietnam and Taiwan.
The PCG declared Sunday the Unaizah Mae 1 and another ship, the M/L Kalayaan, “underwent careless and unsafe harassment at close quarters by CCG and Chinese Maritime Militia vessels” on their method to the shoal, consisting of using water cannon that triggered “extreme damage” to the M/L Kalayaan’s engines, “disabling the vessel and seriously threatening the lives of its team.” China, on the other hand, alerted the Philippines to stop “infringing on its territorial sovereignty.” Gan Yu, a spokesperson for the China Coast Guard, stated in a declaration released to main media on Sunday the Philippine ships disregarded China’s “duplicated” cautions and the Guard “took control steps and resolved them in accordance with the law and policies.”
Gan stated Unaizah Mae 1 is accountable for the accident since it “overlooked global maritime crash policies” suddenly kipped down an “less than professional and unsafe way, and intentionally clashed” with China Coast Guard vessel 21556. The Philippine side “was totally accountable” for what he called a small crash. Sunday’s event is the most recent in a series of conflict in between Chinese and Filipino vessels in the location of the Second Thomas Shoal. Last month, for instance, the United States signed up with the Philippines in condemning the Chinese Coast Guard for challenging a Filipino vessel with water cannon throughout a comparable resupply journey to the BRP Sierra Madre. The most recent battle brought strong words from Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“The aggressiveness and justifications committed by the China Coast Guard and their Chinese Maritime Militia versus our vessels and workers over the weekend have just more steeled our decision to safeguard and safeguard our country’s sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” he stated in a main declaration
Marcos stated he has actually advised the miliary to perform their objectives “with the utmost regard for the security of our workers, …” » Read More rnrn
