The Philippines says the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) interfered with its rescue of injured fishermen Saturday after their engine exploded in highly contested waters of the South China Sea, causing their boat to lose power.
After 144-foot Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) cutter the BRP Sindangan arrived on the scene, their Chinese counterparts dispatched a pair of rigid-hull inflatable boats "not to assist the PCG but to obstruct and hinder their efforts in rescuing the two injured Filipino fishermen," PCG spokesperson Jay Tarriela wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday. He added the two fishermen onboard had received second-degree burns from the explosion.
The incident took place near Scarborough Shoal, known in Manila as Bajo de Masinloc and in Beijing as Huangyan Island. China effectively wrested control over the rich fishing ground in 2013 following a heated territorial standoff with the U.S. ally.
China claims sovereignty over most of the energy-rich South China Sea, including areas like Scarborough Shoal that fall with its neighbors' internationally recognized exclusive economic zones.
Videos of the incident uploaded to X by the PCG show the Sindangan on one side of the damaged fishing boat. The two smaller Chinese are also nearby, with what appears to be two larger CCG cutters in the background.
Tarriela said the PCG and fishermen had been able to "outmaneuver" the rigid-hulled Chinese rafts and bring the injured fishermen onboard to receive medical assistance. A video shows the Sindangan towing the fishing boat, which appeared to be taking on water.
Beijing tells a very different story.
Its state media said that the CCG had provided assistance as soon as they spotted the fishing boat, with the Chinese personnel deploying buoys and life jackets and preparing a lifeboat for a rescue.
The CCG then reported the accident to their Philippine counterparts, who radioed their gratitude over the "act of humanitarianism," according to Chinese state-run outlet the Global Times.
Chinese media did not acknowledge the presence of the Sindangan, which appears in footage taken during the operation. "Funny how the Global Times somehow fails to mention that there was a Philippine Coast Guard vessel on site conducting a rescue," wrote defense analyst Tom Shugart, adjunct senior fellow with the Center for a New American Security, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, on X Sunday.
The PCG on Sunday released a photo of its personnel applying first aid to a man, apparently one of the fishing boat's crew. "Another, proof that we rescued them is the photo showing that they boarded our ship, not the China CG ship," Tarriela wrote of the image.
The Chinese embassy in the Philippines did not immediately respond to written requests for comment. The Philippine Armed Forces directed Newsweek to the Coast Guard's available coverage of the incident.
Tensions continue to heat up between China and the Philippines. Last month, Chinese maritime forces intercepted a Philippine government resupply run to another flashpoint, Second Thomas Shoal, where Manila stations a contingent of Marines onboard a grounded warship.
The violent clash left several Philippine troops injured, testing the Southeast Asian country's Mutual Defense Treaty with Washington.
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Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
