The 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 (𝐏𝐂𝐆) 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐣𝐢𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 “𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝” a 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐲𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐚𝐥, revealing that Chinese vessels blocked and blasted water cannons at Philippine ships during the operation.
According to 𝐏𝐂𝐆 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐉𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐚, what should have been a quick transfer of an ill Philippine Navy personnel 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 10 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬.
The response came after Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning claimed Beijing allowed and facilitated the medical mission.
“𝐈 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫-𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧,” RADM Tarriela said.
He also pushed back against Beijing’s claim that China authorized the operation. He also emphasized that 𝐀𝐲𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 105 𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐧, placing it well inside the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
