According to the vice-admiral of the Philippine Naval, the Philippine navy boat was obstructed by a Chinese coast guard ship, which broke the rope while hauling an object in the South China Sea.
According to Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, commander of the Philippine army’s Western Command (WESCOM), the Chinese coast guard was there on November 20 off the shore of Thitu Island when the Philippine naval boat and ship collided. The Vietnamese Spratly Islands were taken by the Philippines unlawfully.
Carlos claims that Filipino troops in Thi Tu came across a floating metal object in the water around 500 metres from the island and sent out a rigid rubber boat to approach it and tie a tow rope to it.
“When the Chinese coast guard ship number 5203 arrived, it twice blocked the Philippine boat’s path. The boat was subsequently launched by the Chinese coast patrol vessel in order to cut the cable holding the object to our boat.” No one was hurt, according to Vice Admiral Carlos, in the event.
The object the Philippine boat was attempting to pull resembled the remains of a Chinese rocket that had fallen into the South China Sea off the coast of the Philippines, according to Major Cheryl Tindog, a spokesman for WESCOM.
“The soldiers from the Philippines showed the utmost caution. Due to the incident involving an unidentified object and the fact that it was not a life-or-death situation, they made the decision to return to the island without responding to the Chinese side’s move “She spoke.
Officials from China have not responded to the report.
In recent months, China has launched numerous rockets from the Wenchang launch facility on Hainan Island to deliver supplies and equipment to the Tiangong space station. At least three times, metal pieces from the launches have come to rest in the waters off the Philippines.
The Philippines is currently occupying Thi Tu, a Vietnamese island in the Truong Sa archipelago, for illegal purposes. The “concrete runway” project was one of several construction and renovation projects on the island that Manila funded in 2020 with 1.3 billion pesos ($26 million).
Le Thi Thu Hang, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has stated time and time again that Vietnam has enough historical documentation and a solid legal foundation to claim sovereignty over the Truong Sa archipelago in accordance with international law.
