Philippines Accuses Chinese Coast Guard of Deliberately Causing Trouble in the South China Sea

This week, a stand-off with Beijing in the South China Sea was the most severe incident for the Philippines until now, its leading security officials declared on Wednesday, pledging not to step down from asserting the nation’s sovereign rights.

The Philippines has been incensed by what it refers to as reiterated aggressive conduct by the Chinese coastguard, accusing the ships of using a water cannon and blocking as well as harassing a Philippine resupply activity on Tuesday for the troops that were stationed at the Second Thomas Shoal.

This happens to be the most serious incident until now, Jonathan Malaya, the task force spokesperson, declared, accusing China of deliberately creating trouble and maliciously provoking hype. The Philippines’ South China Sea task force conveyed that a top admiral was on a vessel that got water cannoned by the Chinese coastguard, destroying the windshield and injuring four personnel.

The admiral was luckily unharmed. China has reportedly accused the Philippines of intruding on its territory, asserting indisputable sovereignty on the reef, located approximately 1,300 km off its mainland. China also claims almost the entire South China Sea to be its own, irrespective of an international arbitration panel’s outcome, which mentioned that the position held no basis per international law. Gilberto Teodoro, the Philippine Defense Secretary, said on Wednesday that the Chinese claims are baseless and its actions were patently illegal and also uncivilized.

Teodoro explained in his statement that the claim is simply placed, one that no right-thinking nation of the world agrees with and which most condemn outright. Tuesday’s event was the most recent in a set of run-ins between China and the Philippines over the disputed zones of the South China Sea, coinciding with a surge in defence activities between the militaries of Washington and Manila.

On Wednesday, Southeast Asian nations and Australia called for restraint in the South China Sea and urged it to stick to a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific. They said that they urge all nations to avoid unilateral actions that endanger security, peace, and stability in the zone, they mentioned in a joint statement following a three-day meeting.

A spokesperson associated with China’s foreign ministry said that the situation was mostly stable, and the Chinese position on the Second Thomas Shoal was consistent and clear. The US and Philippines share a Mutual Defense Treaty, enabling them to defend one another if attacked, getting the stakes high in an area where tensions have been rising for decades regarding Beijing’s claims to the territory in the much disputed South China Sea, a crucial conduit for worldwide commerce.

Relevant Philippine officials on Wednesday said that invoking the deal would be a severe matter, even though consultations had been taking place between both nations. Speaking in Australia, however, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the president of the Philippines, said that it was not time yet nor the reason to invoke the pact, but the incident was being viewed with incredible alarm.

The Philippine foreign ministry informed that its embassy in China had initiated a “demarche,” or formal reprimand, for its Beijing counterpart.

Reference: Reuters

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