(ConservativeJournal.org) – China attacked the Philippines’ resupply vessels en route to the Second Thomas Shoal on Sunday, December 10th. The area is a disputed section of the Spratly Island chain that China claims for itself. The Philippine Coast Guard released footage of the attack, where Chinese ships nudge and knock the vessel while blasting it with a water cannon.
The damage was enough to cause the vessel to terminate the run and it was towed back to Palawan for repairs.
The shoal is uninhabited except for a contingent of Philippine marines that occupy a rusting vessel they ran aground in 1999 to stake their claim to the area. Their navy regularly runs supply missions and swaps out their men at the location. China has been harassing the vessels during the runs, but locals report increasingly aggressive behavior.
The Chinese attempted to block the path of the vessel and blasted it with a high-pressure water cannon that caused severe damage. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. went on the latest mission to help raise troop morale and encourage the troops stationed on the shoal. He witnessed the attack first-hand.
Brawner said larger Chinese vessels blocked their path repeatedly before dousing them with a water cannon. He said their unchecked aggression was completely out of line with the rules for international waters.
China claimed all the waters were theirs and blamed the Philippines for the incident. They accuse the Philippines of illegally entering their waters. They also nudged a smaller resupply vessel, which was able to eventually complete its run.
Stanford University professor and director of the SeaLight project Ray Powell said that the volume of Chinese vessels in the area suggests they had advanced knowledge of the run. Powell further suggested that Beijing may be using air and space assets to observe when the runs are leaving so they can intercept them.
Another incident on the previous day, Saturday, December 9th, occurred as the Chinese Coast Guard water cannoned boats belonging to the Philippines’ fisheries bureau resupplying fishermen on the Scarborough Shoal, another area China claims.
China prodded Manila that U.S. support was imaginary despite the presence of the USS Gabrielle Giffords in the area. The Independence-class combat ship has been operating in the area and as yet the Chinese Coast Guard has yet to attempt to tangle with it.
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