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South China Sea: Philippines won’t let China remove military outpost on disputed shoal, ‘these are red lines’, says navy commander
- The comments from Navy Commodore Roy Trinidad come a day after four Filipino navy personnel were injured in a confrontation between Chinese and Philippine ships
- The Chinese coastguard said in its account of the incident that the Filipino vessel had rammed its ship
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The Philippines will not allow China to remove a Philippine military outpost in a fiercely disputed South China Sea shoal, a navy official said on Wednesday, a day after four Filipino navy personnel were injured in a confrontation between Chinese and Philippine ships.
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Philippine officials summoned a Chinese Embassy diplomat in Manila to convey a strong protest over the confrontation Tuesday off Second Thomas Shoal.
A small Filipino navy contingent has stood guard on a long-marooned warship that has served as an outpost in the shoal since the 1990s.
Washington issued a warning after Tuesday’s hostilities that it is obliged to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack anywhere in the South China Sea.
Philippine navy Commodore Roy Trinidad also said Filipino forces will not allow any structure to be erected in another hotly contested South China Sea area, Scarborough Shoal.
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