Arya News - A state palace official said President Marcos condemned the incident at Ayungin Shoal, where a Navy officer sustained a head injury after allegedly being struck with a wooden baton by Chinese Coast Guard personnel within the Philippines’ EEZ and continental shelf.
MANILA – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has summoned Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan to Malacañang on Tuesday afternoon following a reported assault by Chinese Coast Guard personnel on a Philippine Navy officer at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and a video depicting Filipinos as monkeys.
Marcos and Jing are set to meet at 5 p.m., Palace Press Officer Claire Castro told reporters in a Viber message.
Castro did not disclose the specific agenda of the meeting.
At an earlier press briefing, Castro said Marcos condemned the incident at Ayungin Shoal, where a Navy officer sustained a head injury after allegedly being struck with a wooden baton by Chinese Coast Guard personnel within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.
The incident, which occurred on Monday, also damaged one of the Navy’s rubber boats.
“He condemns it. The President condemns these kinds of incidents,” said Castro.
Despite the latest incident of provocation and aggression by the Chinese side, the Marcos administration will continue to pursue a diplomatic approach in asserting the country’s rights in the disputed waters.
“At this time, the President also needs to study the situation, but any fight for rights should not be pursued through violence. This is not about the size of your territory or the strength of your forces, but about standing for the truth and asserting what your rights are,” she said.
Meanwhile, an Agence France-Presse report dated July 21 said Beijing had summoned the Philippine ambassador to China on Tuesday over the same incident. INQUIRER.net has sought comment from the Palace but has yet to receive a response.
On Monday, Castro said Marcos also deemed unacceptable an artificial intelligence (AI)-generated video posted by Chinese state-run media that depicted Filipinos as monkeys.
In the video, posted by China Daily on its Facebook account on July 10, a monkey wearing a tattered traditional barong Tagalog is shown being blasted with a water cannon.
This comes as the Philippines marked the 10th anniversary of the landmark July 12, 2016, arbitral award, which invalidated China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea based on its so-called nine-dash line. Beijing has repeatedly rejected the ruling, calling it “null and void.” /dl
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