The Philippines' defense chief said China used "aggressive and illegal force" to disrupt a resupply mission in the South China Sea and said last week's maritime incident, which injured a sailor, was neither a misunderstanding nor an accident.
"We are not downplaying the incident," Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told a media briefing after the chairman of the Philippine maritime council said on Friday that last week's maritime clash was probably a misunderstanding or an accident.
A Philippine sailor suffered serious injury after what its military described as "intentional-high speed ramming" by the Chinese Coast Guard, aiming to disrupt a resupply mission for troops stationed on the Second Thomas Shoal on June 17.
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