PASAY CITY, Philippines — United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday described as “disturbing” China’s latest water cannoning incident, which involved a China Coast Guard (CCG) ship blasting a Filipino vessel near Scarborough Shoal.
The CCG fired a water cannon on BRP Datu Dumangsil for more than two minutes on Thursday morning while the vessel was conducting a mission to provide fuel subsidies to local Filipino fishermen in the area. The BRP Datu Dumangsil was one of two Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels subjected to what the Philippine Coast Guard described as “dangerous maneuvers” by the CCG. Despite the aggression, no injuries were reported, and both BFAR vessels were able to continue their mission.
Reacting to the incident on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Pasay City, Rubio noted that “these claims of sovereignty over territory are a growing challenge” facing the region.
“That’s why we continue to reiterate our commitment to our treaty partners, but also our commitment to freedom of navigation and respect for territorial rights in the region,” Rubio said following his engagements at the foreign ministers’ gathering. “And it’s one of the cornerstones of our engagement in the Indo-Pacific, and especially via ASEAN. And I made that point in every forum that we’ve had here.”
Thursday’s incident follows a separate confrontation reported by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that occurred on Monday morning, July 20, near Ayungin Shoal. According to the military,CCG and Philippine Navy personnel stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre encountered each other after a CCG rigid-hull inflatable boat carrying eight personnel approached within close range of the naval outpost.
The AFP stated that the encounter occurred near the BRP Sierra Madre, the warship Manila grounded on the shoal almost 30 years ago to anchor its claim. While two Philippine Navy rubber boats acted to calmly and non-confrontationally drive the Chinese vessel away, the military reported that the Chinese crew “reacted violently and aggressively” during the encounter.|
