The Philippines has accused Chinese vessels of carrying out "dangerous manoeuvres" in a disputed area of the South China Sea in the latest maritime flare-up between the two neighbors. The Philippine coast guard said in a statement that it had been carrying out a routine rotation and resupply mission near Ayungin Shoal, known in China as Ren’ai Reef, when its vessels were approached by eight Chinese boats. It claimed the Chinese boats "jeopardized" the safety of the crew members aboard the Philippine vessels but did not detail how. It claimed the incident had involved four Chinese coast guard vessels and four Chinese "maritime militia" boats. The incident comes just weeks after the Philippines accused Chinese coast guard ships of firing water cannons at its vessels as they tried to resupply troops stationed on the same shoal in the Spratly Islands chain, known in China as the Nansha Islands.
#Chinaphilippinestension #Southchinasea #Southchinaseaconflict
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#Chinaphilippinestension #Southchinasea #Southchinaseaconflict
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NewsTranscript
00:00 The Philippines has accused Chinese vessels of carrying out dangerous manoeuvres in a
00:18 disputed area of the South China Sea in the latest maritime flare-up between the two neighbours.
00:23 The Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement that it had been carrying out a routine rotation
00:28 and resupply mission near Ayungin Shoal, known in China as Renai Reef, when its vessels were
00:33 approached by eight Chinese boats.
00:36 It claimed that the Chinese boats jeopardised the safety of the crew members aboard the
00:41 Philippine vessels but did not detail how.
00:43 It claimed the incident had involved four Chinese Coast Guard vessels and four Chinese
00:48 maritime militia boats.
00:51 The incident comes just weeks after the Philippines accused Chinese Coast Guard ships of firing
00:55 water cannons at its vessels as they tried to resupply troops stationed on the same shoal
01:00 in the Spratly Islands chain, known in China as the Nansha Islands.
01:04 Marine security experts believe that Beijing controls a maritime militia, hundreds of vessels
01:09 strong that act as an unofficial and officially deniable force to push its territorial claims
01:15 both in the South China Sea and beyond.
01:17 The Philippines claimed that the militia has been involved in both of the most recent incidents
01:22 at Ayungin Shoal, which is also known as Second Thomas Shoal.
01:26 China on its part has never acknowledged that such a militia even exists.
01:31 Beijing claims indisputable sovereignty over almost all of the 1.3 million square miles
01:36 of the South China Sea as well as most of the islands within it.
01:40 That includes the Spratlys, an archipelago consisting of hundreds of small islands and
01:45 reefs also claimed in full or part by the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
01:52 During the most recent incident, the Philippine Coast Guard said it had reached out to its
01:56 Chinese counterpart and urged them to immediately cease any illegal activities within the maritime
02:01 zones of the Philippines.
02:03 In response to this latest confrontation, the Chinese Coast Guard also issued a statement
02:07 accusing the Philippines of unauthorized entry into the area.
02:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]