China says Philippine personnel pointed guns at Chinese coast guard in disputed waters

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https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-says-philippine-personnel-pointed-guns-chinese-coast-guard-disputed-waters-2024-06-02/

China says Philippine personnel pointed guns at Chinese coast guard in disputed waters

By Reuters
June 2, 2024 3:32 AM EDT Updated 2 hours ago

BEIJING, June 2 (Reuters) - Chinese state media said on Sunday that personnel on a Philippine ship pointed guns at China's Coast Guard in disputed waters of the South China Sea last month.

At least two personnel on the Philippine vessel near the Second Thomas Shoal were carrying guns on deck, pointing them in the direction of China's Coast Guard, CCTV said in a social media post.

An accompanying 29-second video appeared to show a masked man momentarily holding up a blurred black object that resembled a rifle.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China's claims had no legal basis.

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[DFW]

1. When China invades and claims the acknowledged waters of other countries

I think that pointing of guns without firing on the invaders could be called “admirable restraint” instead of “hostile action.”

[2naSalit]

3. Especially...

Rich coming from the country whose ships regularly ram and fire upon other countries' vessels while those countries' waters.

[Irish_Dem]

2. China will ramp up to achieve its goal of controlling the South China Sea.

China also wishes to engage the US in the Pacific to distract it from helping Ukraine and Israel.