THE China Coast Guard (CCG) tried to block the medical evacuation of a soldier stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

Videos of the incident, which happened last May 19, were released by the PCG on Friday.

The PCG said it had sent an inflatable boat to retrieve the soldier from a Philippine Navy speedboat, and had informed the China Coast Guard of the "humanitarian nature" of the mission.

The videos show a Chinese-flagged inflatable speedboat bumping into the two stationary Philippine vessels as they prepare to transfer the patient.

Other boats — identified by the PCG as belonging to the China Coast Guard — are also seen shadowing and blocking the path of the Philippine Coast Guard boat.

The Chinese boats "engaged in dangerous maneuvers" and "intentionally rammed" the Philippine Navy vessel, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Jay Tarriela said in a statement.

"The barbaric and inhumane behavior displayed by the China Coast Guard has no place in our society," Tarriela said.

"What should have been a simple medical evacuation operation was subjected to harassment," he said.

"Their actions clearly demonstrated their intention to prevent the sick personnel from receiving the proper medical attention he urgently needed."

Tarriela said the PCG and Navy boats "successfully outmaneuvered the numerous CCG assets and completed the transfer of the sick personnel, ensuring their safe arrival at Buliluyan port" in Palawan.

The PCG did not provide details of the soldier's medical condition.

China's foreign ministry said in response to the incident that it could "allow" the Philippines to deliver "necessary supplies" and evacuate personnel from the Sierra Madre if Beijing were notified in advance.

"However, the Philippines should not use this as an excuse to ship construction materials to the deliberately grounded warship in an attempt to permanently occupy the Ren'ai Reef," spokesman Mao Ning said, using China's name for Ayungin Shoal.

Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, and there have been a series of confrontations involving Chinese and Philippine vessels near contested reefs, often around Ayungin, which is about 200 kilometers from Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometers from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan island.

Other videos released by the PCG on Friday showed China Coast Guard vessels shadowing three Philippine Coast Guard speedboats carrying marine scientists from the University of the Philippines this week.

The scientists were examining crushed coral found at two sandbars in Sabina Shoal, also in the Spratlys.

One video showed a Chinese inflatable speedboat nudging one of the Philippine boats.

The Philippine military said Tuesday that Chinese boats had illegally "seized" food and medicine that was airdropped on May 19 to troops garrisoned on the Sierra Madre.

It was the first time supplies had been seized, it said.

Chinese personnel on board the boats later dumped the items in the water, said Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea.

China brushes off rival claims to the South China Sea from other countries, including the Philippines, and ignores an international ruling that its claims have no legal basis.

To assert its stance, Beijing deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waters and has turned several reefs into artificial islands that it has militarized.

China Coast Guard vessels have used water cannon against Philippine boats multiple times in the contested waters, where there have also been collisions that injured several Filipino troops.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a defiant speech at a security forum in Singapore last week that he would not yield to Chinese pressure.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said China's aggressive behavior in the West Philippine Sea stems from its 10-dash line doctrine in the South China Sea.

From a nine-dash line, Beijing has adopted the 10-dash line concept, which encompasses almost all of the South China Sea.

"What is the provocation in the South China Sea? It's the 10-dash line, you see. Nothing else," Teodoro told reporters on Thursday.

He said China is "trying to bait us from straying away from the main points and dragging us into an action drama debate where we focus on minor details, which stray us from the main message."

Teodoro said the Philippines has "a long-term plan with the President in defense transformation, alliance building, capability upgrade, defense concepts."

The Philippines and Japan are in fact "close to signing" a defense agreement that will allow Japanese forces to train with Filipino troops, he said.

Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said the dangerous maneuvers against Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea also threaten "common global security."

In a speech on Thursday during the celebration of Swedish National Day, Jonson said the dangerous acts "put human lives at risk, undermine regional stability and international norms, and threaten security in the region and beyond."

He said Sweden "stands firmly behind the call of the European Union and others for restraint and full respect of international law — to ensure peaceful resolution of differences and a reduction of tensions in the region."

Jonson said the keynote address of President Marcos at the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore last week "laid out both the challenges which we are facing, and the great possibilities that arise from partnership between like-minded countries around the world."

Acting deputy Australian ambassador to Manila Johanna Stratton cited the need to create alliances among like-minded countries to ensure "a stable and secure" Indo-Pacific region where maritime and marine environments are protected.

Stratton said Australia "is deeply concerned when countries do not respect the freedoms and rights of others, and when they advance their claims by intimidation or coercion."

She made the remark on Thursday during a forum on the link between maritime and economic security organized by international think tank Stratbase ADR Institute in partnership with the Australian embassy in Manila.

Prof. Renato de Castro, Stratbase program convenor, said China's increased incursions in the West Philippine Sea should be seen not merely as a territorial dispute but as a case of "a maritime power bent on expansion."

He said the Marcos administration's Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept, aimed at beefing up the Armed Forces of the Philippines' capabilities in countering China's maritime expansion, "faces technical and financial constraints, thus the need for allies."

He proposed boosting the Australia-Philippines-US trilateral military exercises by inviting Australian troops to Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement sites.

Stratbase President Dindo Manhit agreed that bolstering cooperation with partners like Australia is a strategic move.

"We, at Stratbase ADRi, believe that enhanced cooperation with like-minded states is key to the Philippines achieving both maritime and economic security, and ultimately, promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific," Manhit said.

"Amidst geopolitical and geoeconomic challenges, such partnerships are strategically necessary to foster regional stability and prosperity," he added.

Read The Rest at :