File photo of a boat on a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre at the Second Thomas Shoal, passing through Awash Shoal in the disputed South China Sea. (AFP pic)
MANILA: The Philippine military accused the China Coast Guard on Monday of clubbing a Filipino sailor with a baton as they approached a grounded vessel that has long served as a Philippine garrison in the disputed South China Sea.
News of the incident on Monday came just hours after the Philippine foreign ministry said the two countries’ top diplomats would meet at a regional summit in Manila this week.
The Philippines said in a statement a Chinese rigid-hull inflatable boat carrying eight men had circled and taken photos and video of the BRP Sierra Madre, which sits on the flashpoint Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly archipelago.
China claims almost the entirety of the crucial waterway despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, and has frequently clashed with Philippine vessels in the area.
The latest clash in the crucial waterway took place after two rubber boats were sent to drive them away, the statement said.
“The (Chinese coast guard) personnel reacted violently and aggressively by striking a Philippine Navy personnel on the head with a wooden baton, causing injury and damaging the Navy rubber boat,” the statement said.
The Philippine defence department said in a separate statement the encounter added “to a clear pattern of provocative and hostile behavior” by the Chinese coast guard.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
In June 2024, Chinese law enforcement personnel armed with knives, sticks and an axe attacked Filipino troops attempting to resupply a Philippine garrison on Second Thomas Shoal.
The two sides said a month later they had reached a provisional deal on resupply missions to the Sierra Madre, which was grounded to assert Manila’s claims to the reef.
Monday’s clash comes on the heels of an ongoing war of words between China and the Philippines over their South China Sea claims.
Manila filed a diplomatic protest on Friday over a “racist” video posted by Chinese state media in which the Philippines was portrayed as a cartoon monkey.
