A move to make amends?

ONE Filipino soldier was reported to have lost a finger in the scuffle between the Philippine and Chinese coast guardsmen in the Ayungin Shoal on June 17. A few others were reported to have suffered minor injuries.

The Chinese team fired tear gas and brandished knives, axes and other bladed weapons while the Filipinos fought with their bare hands. However, no weapons of war were used, so the Philippines did not invoke its Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the United States to ask the US to strike back at the Chinese for inflicting injury upon its Coast Guard personnel. Tension has visibly risen, but peace has not totally broken down, so that's something the two sides could decide to build on.