MANILA – The United States of America will continue to stand with the Philippines amid heightened tension with China in the contested West Philippines Sea.
Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder said China’s recent action of disrupting a Philippine resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal was provocative, reckless, and unnecessary.
“It could lead to something bigger and more violent,” Ryder said in a press conference.
“And so we are going to continue to stand with our Philippine allies. We condemn the escalatory and irresponsible actions by China to deny the Philippines from executing a lawful maritime operation in the South China Sea,” he added.
“And as you’ve heard [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin] and others say, the Philippines’ rightful, legal maritime claims must be protected,” the Pentagon official further said.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Tuesday that a Philippine Navy sailor “sustained severe injury” after the China Coast Guard intentionally rammed a Navy rubber boat during a resupply mission to the Sierra Madre on Monday.
Seven other Navy personnel were also injured in the incident, while Chinese personnel also reportedly seized eight high-powered firearms from the Filipino soldiers, while their rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) were also punctured.
For months, China and the Philippines have traded accusations over dangerous maneuvers and collisions at Ayungin Shoal, an atoll in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Several incidents have happened when the Philippines deploys resupply missions for Filipino soldiers living aboard the BRP Sierra Madre, an aging warship there deliberately run aground to protect Manila’s maritime claims.
The Ayungin Shoal, which China calls Ren’ai Reef, is located 105 nautical miles west of Palawan and is within the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone and is part of its continental shelf./PN
