MANILA, Philippines
\nThe Chinese coast guard forcibly seized floating debris the Philippine navy was towing to its island in another confrontation in the disputed South China Sea, a Philippine military commander said Monday. The debris appeared to be from a Chinese rocket launch.
\nThe Chinese vessel twice blocked the Philippine naval boat before seizing the debris it was towing Sunday off Philippine-occupied Thitu Island, Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos said Monday. He said no one was injured in the incident.
\nIt\u2019s the latest flare-up in long-seething territorial disputes in the strategic waterway, involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
\nChinese coast guard ships have blocked Philippine supply boats delivering supplies to Filipino forces in the disputed waters in the past, but seizing objects in the possession of another nation\u2019s military constituted a more brazen act.
\nCarlos said the Filipino sailors, using a long-range camera on Thitu island, spotted the debris drifting in strong waves near a sandbar about 800 yards (540 meters) away. They set out on a boat and retrieved the floating object and started to tow it back to their island using a rope tied to their boat.
\nAs the Filipino sailors were moving back to their island, \u201cthey noticed that China coast guard vessel with bow number 5203 was approaching their location and subsequently blocked their pre-plotted course twice,\u201d Carlos said in a statement.
\nThe Chinese coast guard vessel then deployed an inflatable boat with personnel who \u201cforcefully retrieved said floating object by cutting the towing line attached to the\u201d Filipino sailors\u2019 rubber boat. The Filipino sailors decided to return to their island, Carlos said, without detailing what happened.
\nMaj. Cherryl Tindog, spokesperson of the military\u2019s Western Command, said the floating metal object appeared similar to a number of other pieces of Chinese rocket debris recently found in Philippine waters. She added the Filipino sailors did not fight the seizure.
\n\u201cWe practice maximum tolerance in such a situation,\u201d Tindog told reporters. \u201cSince it involved an unidentified object and not a matter of life and death, our team just decided to return.\u201d
\nMetal debris from Chinese rocket launches, some showing a part of what appears to be Chinese flag, have been found in Philippine waters in at least three other instances. Such discovery of Chinese rocket debris has opened China to criticism.
\nRockets launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on China\u2019s Hainan island in recent months have carried construction materials and supplies for China\u2019s crewed space station.
\nThe Philippine government has filed a large number of diplomatic protests in recent years against China over such aggressive actions in the South China Sea but it did not immediately say what action it would take following Sunday\u2019s incident. The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila would usually wait for an official investigation report before lodging a protest.
\nThitu island, which Filipinos call Pag-asa, hosts a fishing community and Filipino forces and lies near Subi, one of seven disputed reefs in the offshore region that China has turned into missile-protected islands, including three with runways, which US security officials say now resemble military forward bases.
\nThe Philippines and other smaller claimant nations in the disputed region, backed by the United States and other Western countries, have strongly protested and raised alarm over China\u2019s increasingly aggressive actions in the busy waterway.
\nUS Vice President Kamala Harris, who is visiting Manila, is scheduled to fly to the western province of Palawan, which faces the South China Sea, on Tuesday to underscore American support to the Philippines and renew US commitment to defend its longtime treaty ally if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under attack in the disputed waters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MANILA, Philippines The Chinese coast guard forcibly seized floating debris the Philippine navy was towing to its island in another confrontation in the disputed South China Sea, a Philippine military commander said Monday. The debris appeared to be from a Chinese rocket launch. The Chinese vessel twice blocked the Philippine naval boat before seizing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-296603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n