(UPDATES) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday the Philippines needs to do more than protest Beijing's 'illegal actions' in the South China Sea.
Chinese coast guard personnel wielding knives, sticks and an axe surrounded and boarded three Filipino navy boats last week, video showed, foiling what Manila said was a resupply mission to troops manning a grounded warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, on Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.
This frame grab from handout video footage taken on June 17, 2024 and released on June 25 by the Armed Forces of the Philippines shows Chinese Coast Guard personnel aboard rigid hull inflatable boats (in black) during a confrontation with Philippine Navy personnel on their respective vessels (in gray) near the Second Thomas Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Philippines on June 24 denounced Beijing's aggressive and illegal use of force during last week's South China Sea clash between its navy and the Chinese coast guard. Beijing insisted its coast guard behaved in a professional and restrained way and blamed Manila for the clash. Handout / ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES / AFP
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