A brand new video obtained by media outlet GMA exhibits the intensive injury that the China Coast Guard inflicted on a Philippine provide boat close to Second Thomas Shoal final weekend. The Unaizah May 4 was hit repeatedly by high-power water cannons, breaking the home windows on the bridge, soaking the higher deck stage and injuring a number of crewmembers. It is the second time that Philippine servicemembers have been injured by Chinese forces on the reef.

On Saturday morning, CCG cutters and Chinese maritime militia vessels labored to dam a convoy consisting of two PCG cutters and the provision boat Unaizah May 4, in accordance with the Philippine Coast Guard. The Chinese vessels used water cannon to disable the Unaizah May, and video exhibits highly effective water jets blasting by means of the higher deck stage of the provision boat, lashing the crew and jumbling their cargo. The footage exhibits intensive inside injury, together with critical injury to the pilothouse. 

CAUGHT ON CAM: A GMA Integrated News Exclusive: “Tama na, Lord!” Horror as China Coast water cannons Philippine resupply ship @24OrasGMA @gmanews pic.twitter.com/rUIKi8ws8O

— Joseph Morong ???????? (@Joseph_Morong) March 25, 2024

The provide boat required help from a close-by Philippine Coast Guard cutter, and it didn’t full its mission. (A RIB launch did carry six personnel and a small amount of cargo to the vacation spot, the outpost on Second Thomas Shoal, in accordance with the PCG.)

The altercation drew protests from Manila. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs summoned China’s ambassador on Monday to convey its “strong protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China Coast Guard.” It additionally demanded that China withdraw its vessels from the realm round Second Thomas Shoal, which is throughout the Philippine unique financial zone.  

“China’s aggressive actions call into question its sincerity in lowering the tensions and promoting peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the ministry stated in a press release. 

China claims the overwhelming majority of the South China Sea as its personal, together with Second Thomas Shoal and different options throughout the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile EEZ line. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration within the Hague dominated that China’s claims weren’t in keeping with worldwide maritime legislation, however Beijing refuses to acknowledge the courtroom’s legitimacy. 

“If China is not afraid to state its claims to the world, then why don’t we arbitrate under international law?” Philippine protection minister Locsin Teodoro informed reporters in Manila on Monday. “No nation believes [their claims].”