Beijing has defended its coast guard’s driving away with water cannons two Filipino vessels on a resupply mission to a garrison at the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, saying the boats had trespassed in Chinese waters. “On the evening of Nov. 16, two Philippine supply boats trespassed into waters near Ren’ai Jiao of China’s Nansha Qundao without China’s consent,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said in response to the diplomatic protest filed by the Department of Foreign Affairs. “Chinese coast guard vessels performed official duties in accordance with law and upheld China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime order,” he added. The Philippine boats were on their way to the grounded BRP Sierra Madre to unload supplies and provisions for the small Marine contingent stationed there.

Mateo, J., Flores, H., Villanueva, R., Punongbayan, M., Romero, P., & Ong, G. (2021, November 20). China on Ayungin incident: Phl boats trespassed. The Philippine Star, p. 2.