2-6-2024 (BEIJING) Chinese state media reported on Sunday that crew members aboard a Philippine vessel pointed firearms at China’s Coast Guard during a tense encounter in the hotly contested waters of the South China Sea last month.
According to a social media post by CCTV, the state broadcaster, at least two personnel on the Philippine ship near the Second Thomas Shoal were observed carrying guns on deck, with the weapons aimed squarely at the Chinese Coast Guard vessel.
Accompanying the claim was a 29-second video clip that appeared to depict a masked individual momentarily brandishing a blurred black object resembling a rifle.
The incident, as alleged by CCTV, unfolded during a Philippine mission to resupply troops stationed on a dilapidated warship that Manila intentionally grounded in 1999 to bolster its territorial claims in the region.
The South China Sea, a vital maritime trade route through which over $3 trillion in annual ship-borne commerce traverses, has long been a flashpoint for geopolitical tensions. China’s expansive claims to nearly the entire sea have been challenged by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei, with a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration deeming China’s claims to have no legal basis.
Despite CCTV’s allegations, the Philippine navy, coast guard, National Security Council, and the country’s embassy in Beijing had yet to issue any official statements at the time of reporting.
However, in a speech delivered on Friday and attended by China’s defence minister, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. made a thinly veiled reference to Beijing, condemning what he termed as illegal, coercive, and aggressive actions in the South China Sea, actions that he asserted were undermining Southeast Asian nations’ vision for “peace, stability and prosperity” in the region.
