MANILA, Apr 10 (Bloomberg): Tensions are escalating over China’s move to mass militia vessels in disputed areas of the South China Sea, with the US and Philippines expressing renewed concern and an investigation underway into reports that armed Chinese navy ships chased down a civilian craft carrying a Filipino news crew.
Local broadcaster ABS-CBN claims the People’s Liberation Army Navy deployed two vessels carrying missiles to drive away the ship as it travelled across reefs and shoals close to the western island province of Palawan. The report adds it was the first recorded instance of a military maneuver against a civilian boat.
