The Philippine military on Monday accused China's coast guard of allegedly injuring a Filipino sailor during an incident in a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
The military said Chinese coast guard personnel aboard a motorboat repeatedly struck the sailor on the head with a wooden baton, injuring him and damaging his smaller vessel.
The assault was captured on video by other Filipino sailors in the hotly disputed Second Thomas Shoal and set off angry condemnations by Philippine officials. They praised the Filipino navy personnel, saying they did not do anything that could have caused an escalation.
China's coast guard responded by claiming that two rubber boats belonging to an "illegally" stationed Filipino vessel had rammed the Chinese patrol boat "in a dangerous manner."
"During the incident, Philippine personnel maliciously attacked Chinese law enforcement personnel using oars and long sticks," the Chinese coast guard said in a statement on social media.
The row was just the latest altercation between Chinese and Philippines personnel in disputed waters in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety. China has demanded that Manila pull away a long-marooned and now rusting navy ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, which is manned by Filipino navy personnel and serves as a fragile territorial outpost.
The Philippine military said a Chinese coast guard inflatable boat carrying eight personnel was deployed from a ship and approached the BRP Sierra Madre within close range and maneuvered around it.