Philippines ‘won't be intimidated’ amid China row

MANILA

President Ferdinand Marcos said on Sunday the Philippines "will not be intimidated" by anyone after a violent clash between the Filipino navy and the Chinese Coast Guard in the South China Sea.

The confrontation took place on June 16 off Second Thomas Shoal as the Chinese sailors foiled an attempt by Philippine forces to resupply marines stationed on a derelict warship that was deliberately grounded atop the disputed shoal in 1999 to assert Manila's territorial claims.

It was the latest and most serious incident in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in recent months as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims to nearly all of the strategically located waterway.

"We will never be intimidated or oppressed by anyone," Marcos said in a speech during a visit to the headquarters of the Philippines' South China Sea forces on Palawan Island, the closest major landmass to the shoal.

Marcos awarded medals to 80 sailors who took part in the resupply mission, urging them to "continue to fulfil your duty of defending the nation" even as he said the situation has become "dangerous."

Second Thomas Shoal lies about 200 kilometers from Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometers from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan island.

Beijing insisted its coast guard behaved in a "professional and restrained" way and blamed Manila for the clash.

In previous confrontations Chinese forces have used water cannon and military-grade lasers and collided with Filipino resupply vessels and their escorts.