Philippine Sailor Suffers ‘Serious Injury’ in Chinese ‘High-Speed Ramming’ Attack

The Philippine military said on Monday that one of its sailors suffered a “serious injury” when a Chinese Coast Guard vessel conducted an “intentional high-speed ramming” attack against a Philippine supply ship in the South China Sea.

The Philippine ship was attempting to deliver supplies to a tiny military outpost on the Second Thomas Shoal, constructed from the hulk of a ship called the BRP Sierra Madre that was deliberately run aground in 1999, when a Chinese coast guard vessel rammed it.

WATCH — Wow! Chinese Water Cannon Blows Out Windows of Filipino Vessel:

Armed Forces of the Philippines via Storyful

Chinese ships made “dangerous and deliberate use of water cannons, ramming, and blocking maneuvers” during the encounter, according to the Philippine military statement.

Philippine officials did not describe the injury suffered by the wounded sailor in detail. They said the individual was successfully evacuated and is receiving medical treatment. Filipino personnel have been injured during two recent encounters with Chinese ships in the area.

China lost a landmark legal case to the Philippines over control of the South China Sea islands in 2016 but Beijing ignored the decision and has been using force and intimidate to press its illegal claims in the region ever since. 

The Chinese are particularly irked by the Sierra Madre base, demanding the Philippines remove the beached ship and occasionally threatening to do it themselves. In recent years, the Chinese have attempted to starve the tiny Filipino crew of the outpost into submission by interfering with supply missions.

China’s behavior against Philippine supply missions has grown increasingly aggressive and unsafe over the past year. When called out for their tactics, the Chinese invariably claim it was the Philippine ships that behaved aggressively and provoked each dangerous encounter.

China used that playbook again on Tuesday, claiming Philippine vessels approached a Chinese ship in an “unprofessional manner” and forced China to use “control measures” such as “warnings and blockades, boarding inspections, and forced evictions.”

The Philippines dismissed China’s response as “deceptive and misleading.” After previous encounters, the Philippine military has issued lengthy statements and provided extensive evidence of China’s misbehavior, but in this case they released only a terse statement without supporting materials.

WATCH — China, No! Chinese Coast Guard Harasses Filipino Ship Leading to Boats Crashing:

Jay Tarriela/PCG via Storyful

Ray Powell, director of Stanford University’s SeaLight Project, said on Tuesday that satellite images showed a lone Philippine Coast Guard vessel called BRP Bacagay getting “swarmed” by Chinese ships. No other Philippine ships were close to the Second Thomas Shoal when those images were recorded.

The Philippine government statement on Monday accused ships from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) of using tactics such as “ramming” and “towing.” There have been several accusations of ramming and irresponsible use of water cannons this year, but this was the first allegation that Chinese naval vessels illegally towed Philippine ships.

The statement said China’s actions “put at risk the lives of our personnel and damaged our boats, in blatant violation of international law, particularly the United Nations Charter, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the 2016 Arbitral Award.”

U.S. officials are carefully watching the situation because the United States has a mutual defense pact with the Philippines and recently confirmed that it would include defending Philippine ships against “armed attacks” perpetrated “anywhere in the South China Sea.”

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., said in May that “if a Filipino citizen was killed by a willful act” of China, he would consider it an “act of war” that crosses a “red line.”

The White House condemned China’s ramming attack and said it was “deeply concerned about the injuries suffered by the Philippine sailor.”

“This kind of behavior is provocative, it’s reckless, it’s unnecessary, and it could lead to misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to something much bigger and much more violent,” said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.