TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Four Filipino sailors were injured when Chinese coast guard ships shattered the windshield of their vessel with water cannons on Tuesday morning (March 5).
Philippine vessels conducted a resupply mission for the soldiers based on the BRP Sierra Madre (LS 57), which has been grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) since 1999 to serve as an outpost and maintain the Philippines' claim to the submerged reef.
At 6:32 a.m., Chinese coast guard ship 21555 conducted "dangerous blocking maneuvers" against the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel MRRV 4407, leading to a "minor collision" that caused superficial damage to the PCG ship, reported the Philippine Information Agency.
At 8:15 a.m., a Chinese coast guard ship employed similar blocking maneuvers which led to a minor collision with the Philippine supply ship Unaizah May 4 (UM4). Chinese coast guard vessels 21555 and 21551 then fired water cannons at UM4, shattering its windshield and injuring at least four sailors.
The injured crew members were treated by PCG officers from the MRRV. The UM4 was escorted back to Palawan by MRRV 4407.
Seconds before Chinese water cannon shattered windshield. (PCG screenshot)
The Unaizah May 1 (UM1) docked with the LS 57 at 9:30 a.m. and then completed its resupply mission.
The Philippine government condemned Bejing's actions against the UM4. "The systematic and consistent manner in which the People's Republic of China carries out these illegal and irresponsible actions puts into question the sincerity of its calls for peaceful dialogue and lessening of tensions," said Manila.
It vowed that the Philippines will continue to behave "peacefully and responsibly" in keeping with international law, especially UNCLOS and the Arbitral Award issued by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016, which said China's claims to the South China Sea had no legal effect. Manila stressed that it "will not be deterred from exercising our legal rights over our maritime zones," including the Second Thomas Shoal, which it considers part of its Exclusive Economic Zone.
The Chinese Embassy in the Philippines said it lodged representations to Manila and expressed vehement protests over the "illegal trespassing" on the shoal by Philippine vessels. It claimed that the Philippine ships had "intruded" in the waters of what it calls the Ren-ai Jiao of the Nansha Islands without Beijing's permission to deliver supplies to a warship that is "illegally grounded" on the shoal.
The embassy said it was taking "necessary regulatory actions" on the Philippine ships "in accordance with the law." It alleged that the actions of the Chinese coast guard were "professional, restrained, reasonable, and lawful."
The statement alleged that Manila "reneged on its commitments to China, provoked incidents in the waters off the Ren’ai Jiao, and seriously violated China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests." It warned the Philippines to halt its "maritime provocations" and vowed to "firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights" based on what it claimed was domestic and international law.
The U.S. State Department issued a press release in which it said that Washington "stands with our ally following the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) provocative actions against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea on March 5." It described the Chinese coast guard as conducting "dangerous maneuvers" that endangered the Filipino crew and condemned Beijing's "repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and its disruption of supply lines to this longstanding outpost."
This is the moment water cannon from a Chinese Coast Guard vessel shattered the wind shield of a Philippine supply boat during a routine resupply mission to the PH outpost BRP Sierra Madre in the Second Thomas Shoal - within the PH’s exclusive economic zone in the South China… pic.twitter.com/hUgRggrq2Z
— Barnaby Lo 吳宗鴻 (@barnabychuck) March 5, 2024
WATCH: The windshield of 〔錯誤字元無法儲存〕〔錯誤字元無法儲存〕Philippine boat Unaizah May 4 shatters as 〔錯誤字元無法儲存〕〔錯誤字元無法儲存〕China Coast Guard vessels fire water canon at it during its rotation and reprovisioning mission to BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal on Tuesday, March 5. : Armed Forces of the Philippines. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/zRpY2BEehP
— Joviland Rita (@jovilandxrita) March 5, 2024