Chinese coast guard boarded PH ship, seized rifles, punctured boats off Ayungin Shoal, says Brawner

PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines – What Chinese coast guard personnel have done in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on June 17 – boarding a Philippine government ship, wielding machetes and knives to puncture navy boats, and seizing disassembled rifles – constitute “piracy” and Beijing should pay for the damage, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief said on Wednesday, June 19.
Chinese coast guard boarded PH ship, seized rifles, punctured boats off Ayungin Shoal, says Brawner

Visiting the military’s Western Command here which has jurisdiction over the WPS, AFP chief General Romeo Brawner demanded that China return the disassembled rifles it took from Navy personnel and pay for the damage they caused on equipment when they disrupted and harassed a resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal on June 17.

“We cannot let them just do this and take our [assets]. For me, this is piracy because they boarded [our vessel] illegally, they got our equipment. Again, they acted like pirates,” he told a press conference in a mix of English and Filipino. continued

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