PH says Chinese Coast Guard boarded Navy vessels off Ayungin Shoal

The Philippine military said Wednesday that the Chinese Coast Guard boarded Filipino navy boats in the West Philippine Sea this week in a confrontation that left a sailor severely injured.

"The Chinese Coast Guard personnel illegally embarked on our RHIBS (rigid-hulled inflatable boats)," Western Philippine Command chief Rear Admiral Alfonso Torres told reporters in the first official Filipino account of the incident off Ayungin Shoal.

Torres also confirmed that CCG personnel seized guns from the Philippine boats they boarded.

"They got some (guns)," he said, adding the firearms had been stored in the boats crewed by Filipino sailors who were under orders not to display their weapons in Monday's confrontation off Ayungin Shoal, which is also known as Second Thomas Shoal.

The Philippines, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), earlier in the day condemned the collision incident involving a Chinese ship and a Filipino vessel that resulted in the severe injury of a Philippine Navy serviceman during a rotation and resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal.

In a statement, the DFA said it "denounces the illegal and aggressive actions of Chinese authorities that resulted in personnel injury and vessel damage."

As it expressed grave concern over the incident, the DFA said that it has been exerting efforts to rebuild a conducive environment for dialogue and consultation with China with regard to issues on the South China Sea.

"We expect China to act sincerely and responsibly, and refrain from behavior that puts to risk the safety of personnel and vessels," the DFA said.

The Pentagon also denounced China's recent actions against Filipino troops, saying that this kind of behavior was provocative, reckless, and unnecessary. According to Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder, Washington will continue to support its ally, Manila.

GMA News Online has requested comment from the Chinese Embassy in Manila regarding the matter, but it has yet to provide a comment as of posting time.

Monday's incident was the first reported collision between Philippine and Chinese vessels since China implemented an administrative law enforcement procedure mandating the arrest of "foreign" vessels in their claimed territory in the South China Sea.

The Ayungin Shoal, which China calls Ren'ai Reef, is located 105 nautical miles west of Palawan and is within the country's 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Manila refers to its part of the region as West Philippine Sea.

To recall, the Philippine government sued China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2013. The Court ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016 when it junked China's nine-dash claim over the South China Sea.

Beijing has since ignored this ruling. —Agence France-Presse with GMA Integrated News