Three Philippine troops were injured in the latest China Coast Guard water cannon attack on a Filipino supply vessel near a South China Sea reef, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año said Sunday.
The Philippine government said Saturday’s confrontation caused severe damage to the Unaizah May 4 vessel while it was on its way to deliver troops and provisions to a Philippine navy ship grounded atop the Second Thomas Shoal.
Año said three navy personnel aboard the vessel were injured in Saturday’s incident.
The extent and nature of their injuries were not disclosed, though the military said the personnel were treated aboard a coast guard escort ship.
Año said the damaged vessel has returned to the western province of Palawan after its crew managed to restart its engine.
“We will not be deterred. We will not be intimidated,” he said, vowing the Philippines would continue to resupply the garrison on Second Thomas Shoal.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
The China Coast Guard has defended its actions, describing them as “lawful regulation, interception and expulsion” of a foreign vessel that “tried to forcefully intrude” into Chinese waters.
Four crew members were injured by broken glass in an earlier China Coast Guard water cannon attack on the same vessel on March 5.
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