SUMMARY
HONOLULU, Hawaii, USA – Damage to Philippine vessels and injuries to their crew in the South China Sea is “irresponsible behavior” in disregard of international law, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday, May 2, weighing in on the latest flare-up involving China.
Manila and Beijing have traded barbs almost daily since Tuesday’s confrontation at the disputed Scarborough shoal, where China’s coast guard used water cannon against to two vessels from the Philippines, prompting outrage from its government.
“We’ve been very clear to everyone, to include Beijing, that the kind of behavior that we’ve seen, where Filipino crews are put in danger… sailors have been injured and property damaged, that is irresponsible behavior,” Austin told a joint press conference in Hawaii…