A post on CCTV’s Frontline social media account on Sunday said the incident took place near the Second Thomas Shoal, which has been at the centre of numerous confrontations in recent months.
The post said that on May 19, Manila conducted an airdrop of supplies to the “illegally grounded” Sierra Madre and the Chinese side had “responded in accordance with the law”.
Chinese coastguard footage appears to show at least two men on the ship holding rifles and pointing them in the direction of the Chinese crew.
The Second Thomas Shoal, which China calls Renai Jiao and Manila calls Ayungin Shoal, falls within the area Manila claims as part of its exclusive economic zone. It deliberately grounded the Sierra Madre, a Second World War vessel, on the outcrop in the late 1990s to reinforce its claim.
Song Zhongping, a Chinese military commentator, said the latest incident reflected the intensifying nature of the Philippine “provocations”.
“This does nothing to ease tensions between the two nations,” he said.
“From China’s point of view, we are now showing great restraint, but there is a limit to restraint and an end to patience.”
Collin Koh, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, based at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said the garrison stationed on the Sierra Madre was from the Philippine Marine Corps, “and armed troops on board wouldn’t have been any different from those rival garrisons around the disputed South China Sea, including those of China”.
He said: “As for the accusation that armed Filipino soldiers on the outpost were pointing their firearms at the Chinese, the same was also reported about the forces deployed by other parties in the South China Sea.
“What we’re seeing here is the back-and-forth of narratives and counter-narratives employed in the present tension between China and the Philippines.
“This CCTV post is part of Beijing’s attempt to seize some lost ground in the public narrative on its South China Sea row with Manila.”