The Philippine military reported that Chinese coast guard personnel assaulted a Filipino sailor with a wooden baton on the head on Monday near the Second Thomas Shoal, a disputed area in the South China Sea. The incident also resulted in damage to the sailor's smaller vessel, according to a statement from the Philippine military.
Video footage of the confrontation, reportedly captured by other Filipino sailors, led to strong condemnations from Philippine officials. The military stated that its personnel did not engage in actions that could have provoked an escalation.
The Chinese coast guard deployed an inflatable boat with eight personnel from a larger ship. The boat approached the BRP Sierra Madre, a Philippine navy ship intentionally beached in the shoal since 1999 and serving as a territorial outpost. The Chinese personnel maneuvered around the BRP Sierra Madre while taking pictures and videos, the Philippine military said.
Filipino sailors on two rubber boats asked the Chinese to move away in a non-confrontational manner. The military reported that the Chinese coast guard personnel then reacted violently, striking a Philippine Navy personnel on the head with a wooden baton. The extent of the sailor’s injury was under assessment to determine if a medical evacuation was 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 statement read, referring to the South China Sea by its Philippine name. The Department of National Defense added that the incident "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."
China claims sovereignty over the Second Thomas Shoal and virtually the entire South China Sea. Beijing has repeatedly demanded that Manila remove the BRP Sierra Madre. The long-simmering territorial disputes in the region also involve Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan. These issues are a significant topic at annual talks this week between the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Both sides are negotiating a nonaggression pact aimed at preventing a major armed conflict that could involve the United States, which has pledged to counter Chinese aggression and uphold freedom of navigation in the busy waterway.