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A Sugar A coast guard ship used a powerful water cannon on Sunday to ram and then hit an anchored Philippine government ship near an island inhabited by Filipinos in the disputed South China Sea, slightly damaging it, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
None of the Filipino crew members of the BRP Datu Pagbuya, part of a fishing fleet providing assistance to Filipino fishermen, were injured. The Chinese coast guard targeted Pagbuya off Philippines-held Thitu Island in the latest flare-up of long-running territorial disputes. manila, Beijing And four other governments.
China did not immediately issue a response, but has repeatedly reiterated its sovereignty and control over almost the entire South China Sea, a major trade route, despite a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated its historical claims. That decision has been rejected by China but China has supported it United States of America And this western and Asian Associate.
Pagbuya and two other Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels were anchored in the territorial waters of Thitu, known as Pag-asa by the Philippines, when the Chinese coast guard and suspected militia vessels suddenly approached and conducted “dangerous and provocative maneuvers,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore J. Tarriella said in a statement. He said such aggression would not prompt Manila to “cede even a square inch of our territory to any foreign power.”
A Chinese coast guard ship with bow number 21559 “fired its water cannon directly at BRP Datu Pagbuya, striking the ship,” then three minutes later struck the stern of a Philippine fishing vessel, causing “minor structural damage but no injuries to the crew.”
Video released by the Philippine Coast Guard shows a Chinese coast guard ship launching water cannons, striking the ship and its two Philippine flags. A Filipino manned ship is seen sailing away from a Chinese coast guard vessel.
“Despite these bullying tactics and aggressive actions, the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources remain steadfast,” Tariela said. “We will not be intimidated or chased away.”
“The harassment we faced today strengthens our resolve,” said Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan. “Filipino fishermen depend on these waters and neither the water cannons nor the strikes will prevent us from fulfilling our commitment to President Ferdinand Marcos that we will not cede even a square inch of our territory to any foreign power.”
Thitu is the largest of nine islands, islets and reefs inhabited by Philippine forces and is also home to a fishing community in the Spratlys archipelago, the most disputed area of the South China Sea, where China has converted seven barren reefs into island bases protected by missile systems. Three artificial islands have runways, including Subi, located just over 20 kilometers (12 mi) from Thitu, which is also claimed by China.
The latest regional confrontation in the South China Sea adds to domestic emergencies being dealt with by the Marcos administration, including a recent earthquake that killed more than 80 people in the central and southern Philippines and a succession of typhoons that devastated the same areas.