China amid sea tension: PH straying down dangerous path

China on Thursday warned the Philippines that it was straying on what it called "a dangerous path" days after its coast guard trained water cannon and heavily damaged a boat on a resupply mission to the Ayungin Shoal. 

In a statement, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense said the Philippines should realize that provocative actions in the South China Sea would only do more harm than good and blamed the US for interference in the region.

"The Philippines’ harassment and provocations are the immediate cause of the recent escalation of the South China Sea issue," Wu Qian said. 

He said the Philippine side violated international law and the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC).

"It is straying further down a dangerous path. The Chinese side will not allow the Philippines to act willfully. So we have responded with legitimate, resolute, and restrained actions," Wu said.

"The Philippine side should realize that provocations will only do themselves more harm than good, and soliciting foreign support will lead nowhere," he added.

The latest harassment by China's coast guard caused heavy damage on the Philippine resupply ship Unaizah May 4. Four soldiers were injured.

The resupply mission was en route to the Ayungin Shoal, which is well-within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.

The Philippines' EEZ was upheld by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in July 2016. China's historical claims were invalidated by the arbitral ruling.

China didn't participate in the proceedings and does not recognize the ruling.

Wu's statement also adverted to "misinformation to mislead the international community" a day after a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said the Philippines was having journalists manipulate videos. 

The Foreign Correspondents' Association of the Philippines has called the allegation "a barefaced lie." 

The Unaizah May 4 (UM4) was carrying supplies for Filipino troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre when it received water cannon blasts from China Coast Guard (CCG) ships in its approach to Ayungin Shoal on March 23.

In a series of updates to the media, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) reported that as of 8:52 a.m., the UM4 "sustained heavy damage... due to the continued blasting of water cannons" from two CCG vessels.

The CCG had continuously impeded the voyage of the UM4, a civilian contracted ship, and its escort vessels on Saturday.

According the AFP, at past 6 a.m., a CCG vessel performed a "dangerous maneuver of crossing the bow" of UM4.

About an hour later, the CCG then conducted a "reverse blocking maneuver" against UM4 on the latter's approach to Ayungin Shoal "causing near collision."

Just minutes later, Philippine Coast Guard escort vessel MRRV 4409 was "impeded and encircled" by a CCG vessel and two Chinese militia ships, according to Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea.

Tarriela said, "MRRV 4409 has been isolated from the resupply boat due to the irresponsible and provocative behavior of the Chinese maritime forces, who have shown a disregard for the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS)."

Right before 8 a.m., the AFP said, the CCG "started blasting water cannon" at UM4 "deliberately targeting and hitting supply boat." Succeeding videos from the PCG showed that the supply vessel received sustained water cannon blasts from the CCG.

At 8:38 a.m., two CCG vessels directed water cannons at the UM4, which eventually sustained heavy damage.  —NB, GMA Integrated News