MANILA - The Philippine military denied on Tuesday Chinese allegations that troops stationed on a grounded warship in the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea had pointed guns at Chinese Coast Guard vessels.
Philippine personnel are governed by rules of engagement and clearly acted with highest level of professionalism, military spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla told a press conference.
Chinese state media China Central Television (CCTV) said on Sunday that personnel on a Philippine ship pointed guns at China's Coast Guard in disputed waters of the South China Sea last month.
An accompanying 29-second video appeared to show a masked man momentarily holding up a blurred black object that resembled a rifle.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than US$3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China's claims had no legal basis.
Confrontations between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea have grown more tense and frequent during the past year, including China's Coast Guard using water cannons and accusations by Manila that it had rammed Philippine vessels.