Philippines military chief voices anger after latest confrontations with Beijing in South China Sea

By JIM GOMEZ
Associated Press

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military chief says he was with Filipino forces aboard a supply boat that was blasted with a water cannon and surrounded and bumped by Chinese coast guard ships over the weekend in the disputed South China Sea. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday that China was escalating its aggression in the contested waters but said it would not deter Filipino forces from defending the Philippines’ territorial interests. More than 100 Chinese government and suspected militia ships swarmed the high seas around the contested Scarborough Shoal, where a long-marooned Philippine navy ship that Brawner visited has stood for decades. He said the Chinese flotilla was bigger than in previous months.