The Philippines said it had summoned the Chinese ambassador in Manila to protest the latest "aggressive actions" by Beijing's coast guard and other vessels near disputed waters around the Second Thomas Shoals, a coral reef in the South China Sea.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, however, challenged China to submit the claims to international arbitration, assuring that Manila would not budge from its position: "If China is not afraid to declare its claims to the world, then why not go to arbitration under international law?”.
Manila expressed its "strong protest against the aggressive actions taken by the Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia against the rotation and replenishment mission undertaken by the Philippines in Ayungin Shoal on Saturday," the Department of Foreign Affairs said, using the name Philippine for the shallows of Second Thomas Shoal, in the South China Sea.
The Philippines said China's coast guard blocked one of its supply ships on Saturday and damaged it with powerful water cannon blasts, wounding three soldiers.
It is the same place where ships from both sides have collided in recent months, creating similar standoffs.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, rejecting all claims by other neighboring countries, including the Philippines and an international ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
Despite the aggressive efforts, officials in Manila
said the damaged vessel and another coast guard escort that came to its aid later deployed rigid-hulled inflatable boats to deliver cargo and facilitate personnel changes.
Filipino soldiers stationed on the shoal live on the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II naval vessel run aground in 1999 to reinforce Philippine claims, and require frequent supplies of food, water and other basic supplies.
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