The China Coast Guard fired water cannons and “sideswiped” a government vessel yesterday during a maritime patrol near Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), the Philippines said yesterday after Beijing said it had “exercised control” over the ship.
Tensions flared as Manila released a video appearing to show a China Coast Guard ship firing a torrent of water at the Philippine fisheries department vessel BRP Datu Pagbuaya.
Other footage apparently taken from the Philippine ship showed its crew shouting “collision, collision” as the much larger Chinese vessel nears its right-hand side before crashing into it.
Photo: AFP / National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea
The water cannon was aimed “directly at the vessel’s navigational antennas,” the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said in a joint statement.
The Chinese vessel “intentionally sideswiped” the ship before launching a second water cannon attack, the statement said.
The China Coast Guard said in an initial statement that Philippine ships “came dangerously close” and that its crew’s actions had been “in accordance with the law.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
In a later statement, it accused Manila of making “bogus accusations in an attempt to mislead international understanding.”
It said the Philippine ship had “turned at a great angle and reversed, deliberately colliding” with the Chinese ship.
Video released by Manila said to be drone footage of the collision does not show the Philippine ship reversing.
The China Coast Guard later released a video it said showed the Philippine ship ramming its vessel.
The 20-second video showed the moments just before and after the collision, but not the lead-up.
China seized Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the South China Sea that is also claimed by Taiwan — from the Philippines in 2012.
The shoal lies 240km west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 900km from the nearest major Chinese land mass of Hainan.
Philippine officials said at a news conference there had been another incident on Wednesday near Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗吵), in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), which Taiwan also claims.
A China Coast Guard vessel “intentionally rammed” another fisheries department vessel, which “significantly destroyed some of her structure,” an official said.
The Chinese side has not released a statement on the Sabina incident.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS