FROM how it looks, China is more inclined in slaughtering Philippine Navy servicemen as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) released video clips and photos of the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) personnel wielding ax and bolos as it attacked Filipino troops on a routine rotation and resupply mission to the Ayungin Shoal on Monday.
The photos which were posted on AFP’s official Facebook page earlier today, have gone viral and solicited quite a number of reactions, shares and comments from an angry bunch of Filipino netizens condemning what they described as a glaring proof of China’s barbaric behavior towards the Filipinos.
Taken from various angles, the Philippine navy servicemen were also able to document CCG directly pointing the bladed weapons to the Filipino soldiers, while another shot showed pictures of destroyed communication and navigation equipment to prevent the Filipino soldiers from calling help or finding its way home.
“The China Coast Guard’s coercive, aggressive, and barbaric actions during the humanitarian rotation and resupply mission at BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal on June 17, resulted in severe damage to AFP vessels, including their communication and navigation equipment,” the AFP said.
“CCG personnel were also caught on camera while brandishing an assortment of bladed and pointed weapons threatening to injure AFP troops,” it added.
“The core issue remains the illegal presence and activities of China within our jurisdiction. The continued hostile behavior of the CCG is what escalates tensions in the area,” the AFP further noted.
According to the AFP, windshield, communications, and navigational equipment were “intentionally destroyed” by the CCG when they “forcibly towed and looted” its 9-meter Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat during the resupply mission.
Inflatable boats were also deflated and damaged due to “deliberate slashing using machete/bolo, knives, and pikes” by the CCG.
The AFP earlier confirmed that at least seven Filipino soldiers were injured – including one whose thumb was cut using a bladed weapon, as they resisted the latest, and the worst so far, Chinese aggression inside the 200-nautical mile Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone.
Western Philippine Command chief Rear Admiral Alfonso Torres said that the CCG personnel “illegally embarked” the Filipino vessels.
Moments after the attack, the CCG released a statement accusing the Philippine supply ship “dangerously approached” the Chinese ship and ignored Beijing’s repeated solemn warnings.
AFP Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner, however, insisted that China “has no right or legal authority to interfere with our legitimate operations or damage our assets within our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)” – much more in an area that is just 105 nautical miles west of Palawan.
Interestingly, such an aggression isn’t the first of its kind as China also figured in a similar incident sometime December 2022 at a disputed border near Tibet.
In that particular incident, stick-wielding Chinese soldiers attacked Indian nationals in Tawang sector in northeastern India’s Arunachal Pradesh state, a disputed mountainous border near Chinese-controlled Tibet. The incident was also caught on video which was posted and has since gone viral.
The Chinese soldiers were defeated by the Indian nationals who despite injuries, stood their ground against whom they referred to as “foreign aggressors.”
Just like what China has constantly been saying to justify its actions in the West Philippine Sea, a Chinese military spokesperson then claimed that the Chinese troops were patrolling the border, and it was the Indians who had crossed the line. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
