The Philippines will not be intimidated by China, declares President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos after a violent confrontation at sea earlier in the week.
We will never let ourselves be intimidated or oppressed by anyone, said President Marcos in an address at the Philippine Navy's base on the island of Palawan, which lies just east of the Spratly Islands and the disputed atoll where the confrontation took place.
Chinese coastguards intervened when several boats from the Philippine Navy were on their way to Second Thomas Shoal in the southern South China Sea on Monday. Several Filipino military personnel are reported to have been injured in an incident where the Chinese coastguards rammed the Philippine boats and attacked them with, among other things, machetes and axes.
The atoll is one of many disputed areas in the South China Sea, with claims from, among others, China and the Philippines. The Philippines deliberately ran aground an old warship on the seabed there in 1999 to mark a presence. Military personnel are also stationed there, and the boats that were attacked were on their way to resupply.
China describes it as the Philippines trespassing on Chinese territory and that the country's coastguards acted both professionally and with restraint.
The Philippine President has awarded around 80 military personnel involved in the clash, including one man who lost his thumb.
Among others, the USA, EU, Japan, and Australia have condemned China's actions.
