Two days after Chinese forces attacked a Philippine Navy resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal, severely injuring one Philippine servicemember, the primary bystander footage of the altercation has emerged on social media. The imagery seems to depict the China Coast Guard using rather more aggressive ways than in previous encounters: in cellphone footage taken by Philippine personnel, Chinese servicemembers seem to repeatedly ram the 2 Philippine boats, forcibly take away their cargo, threaten the crew with axes and knives, and tow the vessels away. 

“Hey, stop! This is our territory,” A Filipino soldier shouted as China Coast Guard used bodily drive, weapons, sirens, and shiny lights to stop our AFP from delivering provides throughout a humanitarian mission at BRP Sierra Madre within the Philippine EEZ on June seventeenth @gmanews pic.twitter.com/1THy7RhhxN

— JP Soriano (@jpsoriano) June 19, 2024

Newly-released photographs additionally present harm to the Philippine Navy RHIBs, together with smashed management techniques on a helm console. 

The imagery additionally reveals – for the primary time – that the altercation occurred inside toes of the grounded touchdown ship BRP Sierra Madre, a Philippine navy outpost manned by an armed garrison.      

The CCG launched a brutal assault on the AFP personnel aboard an AFP Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB), aggressively ramming it and brandishing bladed and pointed weapons, explicitly threatening to hurt AFP troops. pic.twitter.com/LuFgLE3WJj

— Armed Forces of the Philippines (@TeamAFP) June 19, 2024

CCG personnel violently connected ropes to tow the AFP’s RHIB whereas threatening to injure an AFP soldier w/ a pickaxe. They additionally employed blaring sirens to create chaos, disrupt communication, and divert the eye of AFP troops, exacerbating the hostile & harmful scenario. pic.twitter.com/a8cPaGGH8j

— Armed Forces of the Philippines (@TeamAFP) June 19, 2024

 In the fray, a Philippine servicemember misplaced a thumb, two officers informed AP on situation of anonymity. The officers acknowledged that the China Coast Guard towed off two Philippine Navy boats and seized or dumped the contents – together with firearms. Philippine Navy forces later recovered the boats in broken situation. 

After the incident, the Philippines’ protection and international affairs departments accused Chinese forces of “illegal and aggressive actions” at Second Thomas Shoal, together with injuring personnel, damaging vessels, high-speed ramming, towing, and violating the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Chinese authorities has denied any wrongdoing contained in the Philippine unique financial zone, and has blamed the incident on Philippine forces.

“The People’s Republic of China has once again attempted to provoke trouble in Ayungin Shoal. They clearly hope that the US will also be agitated to justify their false narrative that Washington really wants to go to war against Beijing,” mentioned Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela, responding to Chinese claims. 

Defense analysts have framed the newly-aggressive method as an intentional technique, designed to not obtain a tactical goal, however slightly to find out simply how far the Philippines and its Western allies will let China push. 

“Make no mistake – this incident isn’t about who owns . . . Second Thomas Shoal,” commented Australian maritime safety professional Jennifer Parker. “This is very much about testing the new web of relationships in the region that are designed to deter China’s increased aggression.”

Late Wednesday, the China Coast Guard launched its personal photographs of the day’s occasions, omitting the violent altercation subsequent to BRP Sierra Madre. Through a state-owned media outlet, the CCG additionally printed a photograph of a previously-unknown Philippine provide vessel, which seems to have been armored to withstand the CCG’s water-cannon assaults. 

Image courtesy China Coast Guard (through state-owned media)

China claims the overwhelming majority of the South China Sea as its personal, together with a big swathe of the Philippine unique financial zone. The Permanent Court of Arbitration within the Hague rejected China’s sweeping claims in 2016, noting that Beijing’s historically-derived assertions of sovereignty don’t align with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. China has rejected the ruling and continues to insist that areas positioned lots of of miles from the Chinese mainland – together with options inside the Philippine EEZ, like Second Thomas Shoal – belong to the Chinese authorities.