Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. looks on as he meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines, March 19, 2024. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal, locally known as Ayungin, in the South China Sea, March 9, 2023
MANILA, June 27 (Reuters) – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Thursday that a June 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 protests, we have already made a similar number of demarche,” Marcos told reporters. “We have to do more than just that.”
While not considered an armed attack, the Chinese coastguard conducted an “illegal action” in preventing a regular resupply of troops, Marcos said.
A Philippine sailor suffered “serious injury” after what its military described as “intentional-high speed ramming” by the Chinese Coast Guard, aiming to disrupt a resupply mission for troops stationed on the Second Thomas Shoal on June 17.
China’s foreign ministry has disputed the Philippines’ account, with a spokesperson saying last Thursday that the necessary measures taken by the coast guard were lawful and professional.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
Reporting by Mikhail Flores and Neil Jerome Morales; Editing by Kim Coghill and Michael Perry
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