‘Barbaric and inhumane’: China ship rams boat carrying sick PH soldier

FILE PHOTO: A rigid hull inflatable boat leaves a China Coast Guard ship near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal, in disputed waters of the South China Sea on February 16, 2024.  A China Coast Guard vessel “intentionally rammed” a Philippine Coast Guard boat transporting a sick member of the Philippine Navy from Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal on May 19, 2024, according to Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

MANILA, Philippines — A China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel “intentionally rammed” a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) boat transporting a sick member of the Philippine Navy from Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, revealed Friday, June 7, that the incident took place on May 19.

“The barbaric and inhumane behavior displayed by the China Coast Guard has no place in our society,” Tarriela said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “What should have been a simple medical evacuation operation was subjected to harassment.”

READ: China has ‘zero common sense’ over actions during Ayungin airdrop – PH Navy

According to Tarriela, the PCG high-speed response boat (HSRB) from Buliluyan Port in Palawan was deployed to a rendezvous point with the Philippine Navy rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB), which carried the sick soldier who was stationed at the grounded BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal.

“During our attempt to bring the PCG HSRB alongside the PN RHIB at the rendezvous point, we were harassed by vessels and small boats from the China Coast Guard through blocking operations,” Tarriela said.

READ: China Coast Guard seizes PH supplies for Ayungin

Despite this harassment, Tarriela said the sick naval staff was eventually brought to the nearest hospital in Bataraza, Palawan and received immediate medical attention.

“They successfully outmaneuvered the numerous CCG assets and completed the transfer of the sick personnel, ensuring their safe arrival at Buliluyan Port,” Tarriela said.

The CCG also hounded the resupply mission for BRP Sierra Madre also conducted on May 19.

CCG personnel aboard two rigid hull inflatable boats seized and dumped overboard food and other supplies which were airdropped by a military aircraft for the naval outpost.

READ: China has ‘zero common sense’ over actions during Ayungin airdrop—PH Navy

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also showed a three-minute video where Filipino voices could be heard ordering personnel in their own rubber boats to retrieve the supplies quickly to prevent the Chinese from getting a hold of them. One of the voices was heard instructing the troops to make sure their guns were on standby as the scramble for the supplies drew closer and closer to the naval outpost, coming within five to 10 meters, the AFP footage further showed.

Some Chinese personnel had taken supplies for themselves as well, according to a Philippine Daily Inquirer report, citing information from a ranking military official.

The regular resupply mission in the BRP Sierra Madre has become one of the flashpoints of tension in the West Philippine Sea, as Chinese vessels previously resorted to usage of water cannons during previous missions which even injured Philippine navy personnel at one point.

Such actions are in line with Beijing’s assertion of sovereignty in almost the entire South China Sea, including most of the West Philippine Sea, even if such a claim has been effectively invalidated by a July 2016 international tribunal ruling that stemmed from a case filed by Manila in 2013.