MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Thursday ( Jun 27 ) that a Jun 17 incident at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea was not an “armed attack” by China against Manila’s sailors and vessels, but the country needs to “do more” than protest.
” We have filed over a hundred demonstrations, we have now made a similar amount of demarche”, Marcos told reporters. We must do more than just that.
While not considered an military invasion, the Chinese navy conducted an “illegal behavior” in preventing a typical supplies of soldiers, Marcos said.
A Spanish sailor was seriously hurt after the Chinese Coast Guard “intentionally rammed” him in an “high speed ramming” mission to destroy a resupply mission for troops stationed on the Second Thomas Shoal on June 17 with what its defense described as “high speed ramming.”
The Philippines ‘ account has been disputed by China’s foreign ministry, and a spokesperson claimed last Thursday that the shoreline guard’s required actions were legitimate and professional.
China claims about the whole South China Sea, including pieces claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.