Filipino soldiers fight off ‘armed’ Chinese coastguard with ‘bare hands’ in disputed South China Sea

A “brazen act of aggression” by China – Philippines defence secretary

The latest confrontation in the South China Sea is a new low in relations between China and the Philippines.

It is a simmering dispute that threatens to drag the United States and others into global conflict.

Manila says the images of Chinese Coast Guard officers brandishing an axe represent a “brazen act of aggression”. Beijing says it took “professional law-enforcement measures with restraint” – denying making any “direct measures” at Philippine personnel and insisting they were only stopping an “illegal supply mission”.

It feels, however, like an inflection point at a very tense time. The images being circulated online by both sides are only further inflaming the crisis.

In April, Sky News witnessed the Chinese Coast Guard firing water cannons at the Philippine Coast Guard.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News, the defence secretary of the Philippines has told Sky News all out conflict with China is “a big concern” for his country and that they are facing a very “volatile and dynamic situation”.

Gilberto Teodoro claimed Beijing’s ultimate aim is to “strangle international commerce and bring the South China Sea under their exclusive control”.

But Beijing has said its decision to fire water cannons in April was “necessary” and that the Philippines was “violating their sovereignty”.

Mr Teodoro insisted they are simply defending waters that are rightfully theirs and have an “obligation” as a government to “ensure that the Filipino people have the ultimate use and be the ultimate beneficiaries of the economic zone”.

He cast Beijing’s actions near the disputed shoal as part of a campaign of “persistent bullying” bent on “weakening our economy and moral fabric”.

Tensions between the Philippines and China have intensified in recent months.

Mr Teodoro would not be drawn on whether his administration has a red line and insisted they are a “peace loving people” who want to “avoid conflict”. But he also added that any perceived illegal acts by China would be “a violation of our basic law, our constitution” and impossible for “government officials to ignore”.

“The idea of any sort of armed conflict to any Filipino, is really worrisome… We will always try to avoid it. However, in the face of illegal acts by China, it will be a violation of our basic law, our constitution, for government officials to ignore this fact,” he said.

Manila refers to the portion of the South China Sea that is within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) as the West Philippine Sea. The Philippines National Task Force says it will continue supply missions to the shoal “on a regular basis”.

Mr Teodoro says as long as they are “harassed” by China, “these conflicts will continue because these are Filipino fishermen within the EEZ and within traditional fishing areas”.

The US has recently made clear it will respond if there is a military move against the Philippines by China. But Mr Teodoro wants to see more outrage internationally. “I wish the whole world was more vociferous in voicing their concern and opposition to what China is illegally doing,” he said.

He believes China has not only “attempted to redefine international law but to also redefine the English dictionary with the word provocation” – the product he claims of a “paranoid mentality brought up by a closed society”.

It is the kind of rhetoric that will enrage Beijing and unlikely to encourage any kind of concessions.