Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said on Sunday that his country would not be “intimidated” after a clash between armed Chinese coast guards and members of the Philippine navy.
“We will never allow ourselves to be intimidated or oppressed by anyone,” President Marcos said in a speech during a visit to Philippine forces in the South China Sea.
He, however, stressed the importance of resolving disputes peacefully. “In the exercise of our duties, we will not use force or intimidation, nor will we deliberately inflict injury or damage on anyone,” Ferdinand Marcos said.
A clash between armed Chinese coast guards and members of the Philippine Navy occurred Monday during a resupply mission for Filipino soldiers stationed on a military ship stranded on Second Thomas Atoll, according to Manila.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, an important trade route, and ignores an international arbitration that proved it wrong in 2016. Describing the incident as “dangerous”, the Philippine president welcomed the “deliberate choice of Filipino soldiers to stay on the path to peace. “You have demonstrated to the world that the Filipino spirit is courageous, determined and yet caring,” Marcos said.
A video released by the Philippine army showed Chinese sailors shouting and brandishing knives and an ax from small boats, as well as hitting an inflatable boat with sticks. A Filipino sailor lost a thumb in the incident, during which the Chinese coast guard also confiscated or destroyed Filipino equipment, including firearms, according to the Philippine military.
Asked about this video, a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jian, on Thursday dismissed Manila’s “totally bogus” allegations and accused it of wanting to “slanderously reject” responsibility for incident in Beijing.
For his part, the executive secretary of the Philippine presidency Lucas Bersamin downplayed the importance of the incident on Friday, saying that it was “probably a misunderstanding” and that the Chinese coast guard had not used weapons other than bladed weapons. He added that Manila did not consider the incident as “an armed attack” that would trigger the implementation of the defense treaty between the Philippines and the United States.
Incidents at sea between China and the Philippines have multiplied in recent monthsas Beijing redoubles its efforts to assert its territorial claims in this disputed maritime zone.
China patrols hundreds of coast guard and navy vessels there and has transformed several reefs into militarized artificial islands.
The Philippines announced at the end of May that it had opened a coast guard outpost in the far north of the country to strengthen security, after having noted “a rise in military power” from China over the last two years, almost of Taiwan which Beijing intends to retake, if necessary by force.
