MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military said Chinese coast guard personnel aboard a motorboat repeatedly struck a Filipino sailor on the head with a wooden baton Monday in a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, injuring him and damaging his smaller vessel.The assault was captured on video by other Filipino sailors in the hotly disputed Second Thomas Shoal and set off angry condemnations by Philippine officials. They praised the Filipino navy personnel, saying they did not do anything that could have caused an escalation.Chinese officials did not immediately issue a statement on the incident, but they have repeatedly restated their claim to the shoal and to virtually the entire South China Sea. They have demanded that Manila pull away a long-marooned and now rusting navy ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, which is manned by Filipino navy personnel and serves as a fragile territorial outpost.The Philippine military said a Chinese coast guard inflatable boat carrying eight personnel was deployed from a ship and approached the BRP Sierra Madre within close range and maneuvered around while its occupants took pictures and video.
Filipino sailors aboard two rubber boats asked the Chinese to back away in a non-confrontational manner. “The Chinese coast guard vessel personnel reacted violently and aggressively by striking a Philippine Navy personnel on the head with a wooden baton, causing injury and damaging the navy rubber boat,” the Philippine military said.
