Ray Powell on LinkedIn: #china #philippines #southchinasea #china
🇨🇳#China is escalating with the 🇵🇭#Philippines in the #SouthChinaSea. The Philippine Coast Guard detected a record 46 ships from #China's navy, coast…
LinkedInRay Powell

"🇨🇳#China is escalating with the 🇵🇭#Philippines in the #SouthChinaSea.

The Philippine Coast Guard detected a record 46 ships from #China's navy, coast guard and maritime militia during yesterday's Second Thomas Shoal resupply mission, during which 3 of the 4 Philippine vessels were water-cannoned, one severely enough to put out its engine and break a windshield.

This was a routine monthly resupply conducted by two small boats and escorted by two 44-meter coast guard vessels. The Philippines has resupplied the BRP Sierra Madre since it was grounded on the shoal in 1999.

This escalation came 24 hours after--for the first time--China water-cannoned three 30-meter Philippine Bureau of Fisheries & Aquatic Resources delivering fuel and food to fishermen at Scarborough Shoal.

Both Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal are squarely within the Philippines' internationally recognized exclusive economic zone. China seized Scarborough in 2012, and built a major military base on an artificially constructed island (Mischief Reef) near Second Thomas Shoal a decade ago."