The Philippine military is reporting that Chinese coast guard personnel aboard a motorboat attacked a Filipino sailor at a disputed location in the South China Sea on Monday, striking him repeatedly on the head with a wooden baton and damaging his vessel.
The violent encounter took place at Second Thomas Shoal and was recorded on video by other Filipino sailors present. Philippine officials swiftly condemned the attack, while also praising the Filipino navy personnel for not taking any action that could have escalated the situation.
Chinese officials had not released any statement regarding the incident, though Beijing has consistently asserted its claim over the shoal and nearly all of the South China Sea. China has also repeatedly demanded that the Philippines remove a long-stranded, rusting navy vessel — the BRP Sierra Madre — which is staffed by Filipino navy personnel and functions as a makeshift territorial outpost.
According to the Philippine military, a Chinese coast guard inflatable boat carrying eight people was launched from a larger ship and approached the BRP Sierra Madre at close range, circling the vessel while its occupants filmed and photographed the scene.
Filipino sailors on two rubber boats calmly asked the Chinese personnel to move back. “The Chinese coast guard vessel 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 Philippine military stated.
Officials said the full extent of the sailor’s injuries was still being evaluated to determine whether a medical evacuation would be necessary.
“No act of coercion or aggression will deter us from carrying out our constitutional mandate or exercising the Philippines’ lawful rights in the West Philippine Sea,” the military said, referring to the South China Sea by its Philippine designation.
The Department of National Defense also issued a statement, saying: “The latest act of violence and harassment committed by the China coast guard against Philippine navy personnel … adds to a clear pattern of provocative and hostile behavior and further contributes to the People’s Republic of China’s deficit of trust and credibility.”
The Philippines intentionally grounded the Sierra Madre in the shallow waters of Second Thomas Shoal back in 1999 to establish a territorial presence there. China, which also lays claim to the shoal, later encircled the area with its own ships, creating a tense standoff that has persisted for years.
The broader territorial dispute — which also involves Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan — is among the top issues being discussed this week in Manila during talks between foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and their Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
Both nations have been working toward a nonaggression agreement intended to reduce the risk of a major armed conflict, one that could potentially draw in the United States, which has pledged to help counter growing Chinese aggression and protect freedom of navigation in the heavily trafficked waterway.
