Sailor ‘injured’ in China, Philippines sea encounter
While China and the Philippines made mutual accusations after the encounter between ships in the disputed South China Sea waters, the Philippines said that one of the navy personnel was hit in the head, while China said that the other ship provoked the incident.
The Philippines said Chinese Coast Guard personnel aggressively hit one of the navy personnel on the head with a wooden baton during an encounter in Second Thomas Shoal on Monday that damaged a navy rubber boat.
Southeast Asian foreign ministers will gather in Manila for high-level meetings this week, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will also attend.
The tension in the South China Sea is also expected to come to the fore during the talks.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said that a rigid-hulled inflatable boat belonging to the Chinese Coast Guard, with eight personnel on board, approached the close range of the warship that ran aground in Second Thomas Shoal and took photos and videos.
When two Philippine navy boats moved to drive away the Chinese ship, its personnel “reacted violently and aggressively by hitting the Philippine navy personnel with a wooden baton”.
A 25-second video clip released by the Philippine armed forces showed one of the eight men hitting a Navy crew member on a rubber boat near the Chinese ship.
“We call on the People’s Liberation Army and the China Coast Guard, including their maritime militias, to put an end to their illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive actions in the West Philippine Sea and to abide by the 2016 Arbitration Award affirming the Philippines’ lawful maritime rights under international law,” the Philippine military said. he said.
READ: AFP Statement on Aggressive Actions by the Chinese Coast Guard in Ayungin Shoal#AFPyoucanTRUST#OneAFPOnePhilippines#StrongAFPStrongPhilippines#OurSeasOurRightsOurFuture#MatatagNaSandigan📷📷 pic.twitter.com/NXz0Ve4ZO6— Armed Forces of the Philippines (@TeamAFP) July 20, 2026
In response, the Chinese Coast Guard accused the Philippine ships of ignoring repeated warnings, coming dangerously close to and ramming the Chinese patrol boat, and said that the Philippine personnel were the first to attack.
“Filipino personnel first used shovels, wooden poles and other tools to aggressively attack Chinese law enforcement officers,” the statement said. In the statement, it was noted that Chinese forces exercised the highest level of restraint in administration by giving warnings, conducting maneuver operations around the boats and taking proportionate countermeasures.
The Chinese Coast Guard also accused the Philippines of distorting the facts of the incident and making false accusations against China, and demanded “the immediate cessation of violations, provocations and unfounded exaggerations.”
In a 49-second video clip published by China’s state-backed tabloid Global Times, Chinese officers can be heard shouting “This is the Chinese Coast Guard, please leave immediately” during the confrontation, while personnel from both sides wield shovels and batons.
Video footage obtained by the Global Times on Monday showed that during the provocation, the #Filipino side once again followed what it called a pattern of “provocation, staging and self-victimization.”https://t.co/1gtVaaLg6o pic.twitter.com/jNZr9GZgOg— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) July 20, 2026
The foreign ministry in Manila said the “act of violence” against navy personnel was “unacceptable” and required diplomatic action.
The shoal is located within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile-long exclusive economic zone and 1,300 km from mainland China, referred to as the Renai Reef.
The Philippines accused China of disrupting supply missions to soldiers on the stranded ship.
An incident in June 2024 also turned violent and a Filipino sailor lost his thumb.
The 2024 conflict later led to an interim agreement with China to allow resupply missions to the stranded ship.
China has denied allegations of aggressive behavior during encounters in the South China Sea and accused the Philippines of trespassing in its waters.
