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Aid groups describe an 'unimaginable' situation after visiting a packed Gaza hospital
Aid groups that visited a packed Gaza hospital described an “unimaginable” situation in which large open wounds were left untreated.
An emergency medical team organized by three aid groups spent two weeks carrying out surgeries and other care at the European Gaza Hospital near Khan Younis. The southern city has seen heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants since the start of the year.
In a statement released Monday, the team said healthcare workers had been forced to evacuate or were unable to access the hospital. It said Israeli restrictions had led to shortages of medical supplies, including basics like gauze and plates and screws used to stabilize broken bones.
The visiting surgeons “reported large infected open wounds on patients and having to administer emergency nutritional supplies to patients as the lack of food was jeopardizing patient treatment.”
International aid officials say the entire population of the Gaza Strip — 2.3 million people — is suffering from food insecurity and that famine is imminent in the hard-hit north.
More than 32,000 people have been killed in the territory, and more than 74,000 wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its counts. It says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
Some 1,200 people were killed on Oct. 7 when Palestinian militants launched a surprise attack out of Gaza, triggering the war, and abducted another 250 people. Hamas is still believed to be holding some 100 Israelis hostage, as well as the remains of 30 others.
Ireland poised to get its youngest ever premier as Simon Harris elected leader of Fine Gael party
Ireland is poised to get its youngest-ever premier next month after Simon Harris secured the leadership of the Fine Gael party on Sunday, replacing Leo Varadkar who announced his surprise resignation last week.
The 37-year-old Harris, who has been the coalition government’s further and higher education minister, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Varadkar, who had been Ireland’s previous youngest prime minister, or what Ireland calls its taoiseach.
Harris is expected to be formally elected premier in the Irish parliament in early April after lawmakers return from their Easter break.
In his victory speech in the central Ireland town of Athlone, Harris said this was a “moment for Fine Gael to reconnect” with the people and pledged to fight against populist forces in Irish politics.
“I want this party to fight against populism and deliberate polarization,” he said.
Aid groups describe an 'unimaginable' situation after visiting a packed Gaza hospital
He confirmed Fine Gael as a “proudly pro-European party,” condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.
“There is a hell of a lot to get done in the time ahead,” he said.
Harris said nothing about the coalition government, which came into place at the end of 2020, but has previously said that he would remain fully committed to the program for government agreed upon with partners Fianna Fail and the Green Party. He has stopped short of ruling out a general election this year, but insisted such a poll wasn’t his priority.
Varadkar, 45, has had two spells as taoiseach — between 2017 and 2020, and again since December 2022 as part of a job-share with Micheál Martin, the head of Fianna Fáil.
He was the country’s youngest-ever leader when first elected at age 38, as well as Ireland’s first openly gay prime minister. Varadkar, whose mother is Irish and father is Indian, was also Ireland’s first biracial taoiseach.
UN chief says it's time to 'truly flood' Gaza with aid and calls starvation there an outrage
He played a leading role in campaigns to legalize same-sex marriage, approved in a 2015 referendum, and to repeal a ban on abortion, which passed in a vote in 2018.
He led Ireland during the years after Britain’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union. Brexit had huge implications for Ireland, an EU member that shares a border with the U.K.’s Northern Ireland. U.K.-Ireland relations were strained while hardcore Brexit-backer Boris Johnson was U.K. leader, but have steadied since the arrival of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Aid groups describe an 'unimaginable' situation after visiting a packed Gaza hospital
Aid groups that visited a packed Gaza hospital described an “unimaginable” situation in which large open wounds were left untreated.
An emergency medical team organized by three aid groups spent two weeks carrying out surgeries and other care at the European Gaza Hospital near Khan Younis. The southern city has seen heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants since the start of the year.
In a statement released Monday, the team said healthcare workers had been forced to evacuate or were unable to access the hospital. It said Israeli restrictions had led to shortages of medical supplies, including basics like gauze and plates and screws used to stabilize broken bones.
The visiting surgeons “reported large infected open wounds on patients and having to administer emergency nutritional supplies to patients as the lack of food was jeopardizing patient treatment.”
International aid officials say the entire population of the Gaza Strip — 2.3 million people — is suffering from food insecurity and that famine is imminent in the hard-hit north.
More than 32,000 people have been killed in the territory, and more than 74,000 wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its counts. It says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
Some 1,200 people were killed on Oct. 7 when Palestinian militants launched a surprise attack out of Gaza, triggering the war, and abducted another 250 people. Hamas is still believed to be holding some 100 Israelis hostage, as well as the remains of 30 others.
Bodies of 3 Rohingya refugees found as Indonesia ends rescue for capsized boat
Currently:
— Palestinians describe bodies and ambulances crushed in Israel’s ongoing raid at Gaza’s main hospital
— UN to vote on resolution demanding a cease-fire in Gaza during current Muslim holy month of Ramadan
— Thousands of Christians attend Palm Sunday celebrations in Jerusalem against a backdrop of war
— Israeli airstrike in northeastern Lebanon wounds 3, local official says
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here's the latest:
AID GROUPS DESCRIBE ‘UNIMAGINABLE’ SITUATION IN GAZA HOSPITAL
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Aid groups that visited a packed Gaza hospital described an “unimaginable” situation in which large open wounds were left untreated.
An emergency medical team organized by three aid groups spent two weeks carrying out surgeries and other care at the European Gaza Hospital near Khan Younis. The southern city has seen heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants since the start of the year.
The hospital has expanded to 1,000 beds from its original capacity of 200 to accommodate patients from Nasser Hospital, the main hospital in Khan Younis, which Israeli forces raided last month. There are also an estimated 22,000 people sheltering at the European Gaza Hospital.
The visiting surgeons “reported large infected open wounds on patients and having to administer emergency nutritional supplies to patients as the lack of food was jeopardizing patient treatment.”
In a statement released Monday, the team said healthcare workers had been forced to evacuate or were unable to access the hospital. It said Israeli restrictions had led to shortages of medical supplies, including basics like gauze and plates and screws used to stabilize broken bones.
Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian facilities to shield its fighters and has raided a number of medical facilities since the start of the war. Most of Gaza’s hospitals have been forced to shut down, even as scores are killed and wounded each day in Israeli strikes.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, and experts warn that even more are at risk of dying from disease and starvation.
The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250 people.
The emergency medical team was organized by Medical Aid for Palestinians, the International Rescue Committee and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
UN SET TO VOTE ON RESOLUTION DEMANDING IMMEDIATE CEASE-FIRE
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Monday on a resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
UN chief says it's time to 'truly flood' Gaza with aid and calls starvation there an outrage
The vote comes after Russia and China vetoed a U.S.-sponsored resolution Friday that would have supported “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israeli-Hamas conflict.
The United States warned that the resolution to be voted on Monday morning could hurt negotiations to halt hostilities by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar, raising the possibility of another veto, this time by the Americans.
The resolution, put forward by the 10 elected council members, is backed by Russia and China and the 22-nation Arab Group at the United Nations.
THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIANS MARK PALM SUNDAY IN JERUSALEM
JERUSALEM — Thousands of Christian faithful attended Palm Sunday celebrations at Jerusalem’s sacred Mount of Olives, marking the first day of Holy Week as conflict surges across the region.
Pilgrims waved branches and fronds in the air, items that were placed before Jesus’ feet as he was greeted by cheering crowds during his entrance into Jerusalem, according to the Bible. Earlier Sunday, Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre — revered as the site of Jesus’s crucifixion — also held a service.
The annual celebration came as the Israel-Hamas war rages on in Gaza. However, the conflict appeared to have had little effect on the procession, which swelled to a similar size as last year.
The celebration marks the beginning of the most somber week in the Christian calendar, which marks Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter.
ISRAELI AIRSTRIKE HITS LEBANON, WOUNDING AT LEAST 3 PEOPLE
BEIRUT — An Israeli airstrike deep in northeastern Lebanon early Sunday wounded at least three people, a local official said.
The airstrike near the city of Baalbek, a stronghold of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, was the latest to hit the area in recent weeks.
The strike occurred a few minutes after midnight and wounded three people according to Baalbek’s mayor, Bachir Khodr, who posted the news on X.
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It was not immediately clear what was struck. The strike came hours after Hezbollah said it used two drones carrying explosives to attack an Israeli Iron Dome missile defense system in the northern Israeli town of Kfar Blum.
The Israeli military said warplanes attacked a workshop used by Hezbollah for military activities. It added that after the strike some 50 rockets were fired from Lebanon toward Israel, saying some were shot down and others fell in open areas.
Thailand sends aid to war-torn Myanmar, but critics say it will only help junta
Thailand delivered its first batch of humanitarian aid to war-torn Myanmar on Monday, in what officials hope will be a continuing effort to ease the plight of millions of people displaced by fighting.
But critics charge that the aid will benefit only people in areas under the Myanmar military’s control, providing it with a propaganda boost while leaving the vast majority of displaced people in contested areas without access to assistance.
Myanmar is wracked by a nationwide armed conflict that began after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule. The fighting has displaced millions of people and battered the economy.
Thailand sent ten trucks over the border from the northern province of Tak, carrying some 4,000 packages of aid to three towns in Kayin State, also known as Karen State, where it will be distributed to approximately 20,000 displaced people.
The parcels contained aid worth around 5 million baht ($138,000), mostly food, instant beverages and other basic items such as toiletries.
More than 2.8 million people in Myanmar are displaced, according to U.N. agencies, most by fighting that arose after the army’s takeover. They say 18.6 million people, including 6 million children, require humanitarian aid.
Carl Skau, Chief Operating Officer of the U.N.’s World Food Programme, said earlier this month that one in four of the displaced is at risk of acute food insecurity.
The initiative for what has been called a humanitarian corridor is being carried out by the Thai Red Cross, with funding from Thailand’s Foreign Ministry and logistical support from the army, which traditionally has played a major role in border activities.
Officials from Thailand and Myanmar's Kayin State attended a send-off ceremony, which was presided over by Thai Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow. Myanmar's Red Cross will handle distribution of the aid.
Drivers from Myanmar took the trucks across the 2nd Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, which crosses the Moei River on the border.
"That corridor puts humanitarian aid into the hands of the junta because it goes into the hands of the junta-controlled Myanmar Red Cross,” Tom Andrews, the U.N. independent human rights expert on Myanmar, said last week.
“So we know that the junta takes these resources, including humanitarian, and weaponizes them, uses them for their own military strategic advantage. The fact of the matter is, is that the reason that humanitarian aid is in such desperate need is precisely because of the junta.”
Andrews said the areas in desperate need are "conflict areas in which the junta has absolutely no influence or control whatsoever. So those are the areas we need to focus on.”
Large areas of the country, especially frontier areas, are now contested or controlled by anti-military resistance forces, including pro-democracy fighters allied with armed ethnic minority organizations that have been fighting for greater autonomy for decades.
Thai officials say the process of distribution will be monitored by the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management to ensure it reaches people fairly and equally.
Vice Foreign Minister Sihasak said after the ceremony that the aid is expected to be delivered to the three towns the same day, and that Myanmar will send photos as proof it has been delivered.
“I would like to emphasize that this is truly humanitarian aid and not related to the politics or conflicts in Myanmar. I think, now, people should think about the interests of the Myanmar people as a priority,” he said. “Of course, if the initiative today is carried out smoothly, and meets the objectives that we set, Thailand as a neighbor will see how we can expand the help to other areas.”
The humanitarian corridor project was initiated by Thailand with support from Myanmar and other fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations during an ASEAN Foreign Ministers Retreat in Laos in January.
Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara had said ASEAN needs to actively push to implement what it calls the Five-Points Consensus, which it agreed to just a few months after the army’s 2021 takeover.
The agreement called for an immediate end to violence, dialogue among all concerned parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels, and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all concerned parties.
But Myanmar’s generals, despite initially assenting to the consensus, failed to act on it, leaving ASEAN looking powerless.
Dulyapak Preecharush, a professor of Southeast Asia Studies at Bangkok's Thammasat University, said the aid initiative is a good start for Thailand, which has been quiet and inactive” about Myanmar.
“The readiness of Thailand to deliver the aid is not an issue, but when the aid is delivered to Myanmar, it will face obstacles from violent fighting and different stakeholders who will have their gains and losses.”
Sihasak said Thailand hopes the aid will be distributed equally and transparently, and that the delivery of the aid will help create a “good atmosphere” that will contribute to the peace process in Myanmar.
North Korea says Japan's prime minister proposed summit with leader Kim Jong Un
North Korea said Monday that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has proposed a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Kim’s sister and senior official, Kim Yo Jong, made the comments in a state media dispatch. She said Kishida used an unspecified channel to convey his position that he wants to meet Kim Jong Un in person at an early date.
Kim Yo Jong said whether to improve bilateral ties hinges on Japan. She said if Kishida sticks to his push to resolve the alleged past abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea, he cannot avoid criticism that he would only pursue talks to boost his popularity.
Some experts say North Korea is seeking to improve ties with Japan as a way to weaken a trilateral Tokyo-Seoul-Washington security partnership, while Kishida also wants better ties with North Korea to increase his declining approval rating at home.
The U.S. and South Korea have been expanding their military drills and trilateral exercises involving Japan in response to North Korea's provocative run of weapons tests since 2022.
Earlier Monday, North Korea's state media that Kim Jong Un supervised a tank exercise and encouraged his armored forces to sharpen war preparations in the face of growing tensions with South Korea.
Death toll from heavy rains in southeastern Brazil jumps to 23
Heavy rains in Brazil this weekend have killed at least 23 people between the southeastern states of Rio de Janeiro and Espirito Santo.
Espirito Santos' state government said on Sunday that 15 people died and almost 5,000 are out of their homes due to heavy rains falling since Friday night. Rio authorities reported eight deaths on Saturday.
Thirteen deaths in Espirito Santo were registered in Mimoso do Sul, a countryside city 74 kilometers (46 miles) south of state capital Vitoria.
Rescue teams in both states had to stop their work Friday night because of risks of new landslides, with efforts restarting Saturday afternoon.
Mayors and governors of Brazil's Southeast region have alarmed residents of potential problems for the weekend since Thursday. A government warning for heavy rains in Espirito Santo state is valid until midnight local time.
Bodies of 3 Rohingya refugees found as Indonesia ends rescue for capsized boat
The bodies of three Rohingya refugees were found in the sea as the Indonesian authorities ended a search for survivors from a boat that capsized near Aceh province, the provincial search and rescue agency said Sunday.
Fishers and a search and rescue team rescued 75 people from the boat on Thursday — 44 men, 22 women and nine children — after they huddled on its overturned hull throughout the night.
A few were taken to a local hospital for treatment, but most were sent to a temporary shelter in the Aceh Barat district. Several told UNHCR workers they had lost family members on the journey.
Fishers first spotted the three bodies and reported them to local authorities on Saturday.
“After we searched the area, the team found three bodies, two adult women and one boy. They are allegedly Rohingya refugees who were the passengers of the capsized and sunken boat,” Al Hussain, chief of Banda Aceh Search and Rescue Agency in a statement on Sunday.
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The bodies were immediately taken to the hospital in Calang city in Aceh Jaya district, before local authorities buried them.
Faisal Rahman, a UNHCR staff member in Aceh, said that some of the survivors also helped to identify the bodies.
“We have verified as we take one of the refugees to identify and verify that they were together on the boat,” Faisal Rahman, a UNHCR staff member in Aceh, said Saturday evening.
Local authorities in Aceh have received several reports about dead bodies floating in nearby waters since Saturday.
U.N. agencies in a statement on Friday said that about 70 Rohingya refugees are feared missing or dead from a boat that made a grueling sea voyage from Bangladesh and sank off Indonesia’s coast this week.
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About 1 million of the predominately Muslim Rohingya live in Bangladesh as refugees from Myanmar. They include about 740,000 who fled in 2017 to escape a brutal counterinsurgency campaign by Myanmar's security forces, who were accused of committing mass rapes and killings and burning thousands of homes. The Rohingya minority in Myanmar faces widespread discrimination and most are denied citizenship.
Indonesia, like Thailand and Malaysia, is not a signatory to the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention, and so is not obligated to accept them. However, the country generally provides temporary shelter to refugees in distress.
Heavy rains kill at least 7 in Rio de Janeiro state, 4-year-old rescued after 16 hours under mud
Heavy rains in Rio de Janeiro state have killed at least seven people, authorities said Saturday, while a 4-year-old girl was rescued after more than 16 hours under mud.
The girl was pulled out alive in the city of Petropolis, 69 kilometers (43 miles) north of Rio. Rescue teams had to stop their work Friday night because of risks of new landslides in the region.
The girl's father died as a house was knocked to the ground. She survived because he protected her with his body, members of rescue teams said. Three more people died in the same place.
“My son was a warrior, he spent all that time there and saved his little daughter,” Roberto Napoleão, the grandfather of the girl, told journalists. “You can't imagine what it is like to lose a son. It hurts so much.”
Mayors in the state and Gov. Claudio Castro had alarmed residents of potential problems for the weekend since Thursday.
Firefighters have struggled to reach those hit by heavy rains, many of them residents of long endangered areas. Sniffing dogs were also part of the rescue efforts. Almost 100 people had been saved, authorities said.
Local authorities in Teresopolis, close to Petropolis, said that one person was still missing after the heavy rains.
Meteorologists say the heavy rains that hit Rio state are moving towards the neighboring state of Espirito Santo.
Memorial marks 210th anniversary of crucial battle between Native Americans and United States
Prayers and songs of remembrance carried across the grassy field where 800 Muscogee warriors, women and children perished in 1814 while defending their homeland from United States forces.
Members of the Muscogee Creek Nation returned to Alabama this weekend for a memorial service on the 210th anniversary of Horseshoe Bend. The battle was the single bloodiest day of conflict for Native Americans with U.S. troops and paved the way for white settler expansion in the Southeast and the tribe's eventual forced removal from the region.
“We don’t come here to celebrate. We come here to commemorate, to remember the lives and stories of those who fought and honor their sacrifice,” David Hill, principal chief of the Muscogee Creek Nation, said at the Saturday ceremony.
One thousand warriors, along with women and children from six tribal towns, had taken refuge on the site, named for the sharp bend of the Tallapoosa River. They were attacked on March 27, 1814, by a force of 3,000 led by future U.S. President Andrew Jackson.
“They were going to fight to the end. The warriors were going to do what they could do to protect the women and children, protect themselves, protect our freedom, what we had here,” Hill said.
Leaders of the Muscogee Nation on Saturday placed a wreath on the battle site. The wreath was red, in honor of the warriors who were known as Red Sticks. It was decorated with six eagle feathers in recognition of the six tribal towns that had taken refuge there.
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Despite signing a treaty with the United States, the Muscogee were eventually forcibly removed from the Southeast to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears. Some of their descendants made the journey back to the land their ancestors called home to attend the remembrance ceremony.
“Hearing the wind and the trees and imagining those that came before us, they heard those same things. It wakes something up in your DNA,” Dode Barnett, a member of the Muscogee Nation Tribal Council, said. Barnett said their story is one of survival.
RaeLynn Butler, the Muscogee Nation’s secretary of culture and humanities, has visited the site multiple times but said it is emotional each time.
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“When you hear the language and you hear the songs, it's a feeling that is just overwhelming. Painful. Even though it's hard to be here, it's important that we share this history,” Butler said.
The Muscogee Nation has announced plans to try to place a permanent memorial at the site.
Chinese coast guard hits Philippine boat with water cannons in disputed sea, causing injuries
Chinese coast guard ships hit a Philippine supply boat with water cannons Saturday in the latest confrontation near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, causing injuries to its navy crew members and heavy damage to the wooden vessel, Philippine officials said.
The United States and Japan immediately expressed their support to the Philippines, as well as alarm over Chinese forces’ aggression off the Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the scene of repeated confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels over the past year.
The far-flung shoal has been occupied by a small contingent of Philippine navy and marines on a marooned warship since 1999, but has been surrounded by Chinese coast guard and suspected militia vessels in an increasingly tense territorial standoff. It’s the second time the Philippine boat Unaizah May 4 has been damaged by the Chinese coast guard’s water cannon assault in March alone.
The repeated high-seas confrontations have sparked fears they could degenerate into a larger conflict that could bring China and the United States into a collision.
Washington lays no claims to the busy seaway, a key global trade route, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls “freedom of navigation” operations, which China has criticized.
The U.S. has also warned repeatedly that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines — its oldest treaty ally in Asia — if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
Read: Philippine military condemns Chinese coast guard's use of water cannon on its boat in disputed sea
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement Saturday that the United States "stands with its ally the Philippines and condemns the dangerous actions by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea on March 23.”
He said the Chinese ships' “repeated employment of water cannons and reckless blocking maneuvers resulted in injuries to Filipino service members and significant damage to their resupply vessel, rendering it immobile.”
Escorted by two Philippine coast guard ships, the Unaizah May 4 was en route to deliver supplies and a fresh batch of Filipino sailors to the territorial outpost in the shoal at dawn Saturday when they were blocked and surrounded by Chinese coast guard ships and suspected militia vessels.
"Their reckless and dangerous actions culminated with the water cannoning of Unaizah May 4, causing severe damage to the vessel and injuries to Filipinos onboard,” a Philippine government task force dealing with the territorial conflicts said without elaborating.
The two Philippine coast guard patrol ships maneuvered through the Chinese blockade to treat the injured Filipino crew members and tow the disabled supply boat away. Another motorboat managed to transport the new batch of Filipino sailors and supplies to the Philippine outpost in the shallows of the shoal despite the Chinese coast guard’s attempt to block them by placing a floating barrier in the waters, Philippine officials said.
The hostilities dragged on for about 8 hours, they said.
“The Philippines will not be deterred — by veiled threats or hostility — from exercising our legal rights over our maritime zones,” the government task force said in a statement. “We demand that China demonstrate in deeds and not in words that it is a responsible and trustworthy member of the international community.”
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Chinese coast guard spokesperson Gan Yu said the Philippine vessels intruded into what he said was China’s territorial waters despite repeated warnings. “The China coast guard implemented lawful regulation, interception and expulsion in a reasonable and professional manner,” Gan said.
Washington's ambassador to Manila, MaryKay Carlson, said that “the U.S. stands with the Philippines against the PRC’s repeated dangerous maneuvers and water cannons to disrupt” the Philippine coast guard’s “lawful activities” in Manila’s exclusive economic zone.
Japan's ambassador-designate to Manila, Endo Kazuya, reiterated his country’s “grave concern on the repeated dangerous actions by the Chinese coast guard in the South China Sea, which resulted in Filipino injuries."
Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway, which Beijing continues to claim virtually in its entirety despite a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds.
Video released by the Philippine military shows two Chinese coast guard ships hitting the smaller wooden-hulled boat Unaiza May 4 with high-pressure water cannon sprays at close range, causing the boat to shift in the high seas.
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Chinese coast guard previously blasted the Unaizah May 4 with high-pressure water cannons in a confrontation near the Second Thomas Shoal on March 5, shattering its windshield and slightly injuring a Filipino admiral and four of his men with glass shards and splinters of debris.
The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila summoned China’s deputy ambassador after the March 5 confrontation to convey a protest against the Chinese coast guard’s actions, which it said were unacceptable.