Blasts heard after Chinese vessel takes rocket debris

RESIDENTS of the Philippinesoccupied Thitu Island, part of the disputed Spratlys archipelago in the South China Sea, said they heard blasts after a maritime encounter between the Philippine Navy and the China Coast Guard.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that police believe the loud blasts, heard between 11.30am and 3pm on Sunday, allegedly came from “artillery guns/weapons” from the nearby Subi Reef, one of the biggest artificial islands built by Beijing in the Spratlys. Military officials are verifying the source of the blasts.

The explosions were heard a few hours after a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocked a Philippine naval boat and “forcefully” took suspected rocket debris found floating off the coast of Thitu Island, the Philippine military said on Monday.

Vice-admiral Alberto Carlos, commander of the Philippine military’s Western Command, said the Naval Station Emilio Liwanag (NSEL) sent a team to retrieve the metallic object that was found drifting towards a nearby sand bar at around 6.45am.

He added that the team tied the object to its boat and began moving towards the shore. But a Chinese Coast Guard vessel with bow number 5203 blocked the boat twice before deploying its rigid hull inflatable boat.

“The said Chinese Coast Guard inflatable boat forcefully retrieved said floating object by cutting the towing line attached to the NSEL rubber boat. The rigid hull inflatable boat then towed it back to the Chinese Coast Guard vessel,” he said.