The Department of Foreign Affairs stated on Tuesday that the trust of the Philippines with China is diminishing after a Chinese vessel rammed a wooden Vietnamese fishing boat in the South China Sea.
"Our own similar experience revealed how much trust in a friendship is lost by it; and how much trust was created by Vietnam’s humanitarian act of directly saving the lives of our Filipino fishermen."
Vietnam released footage of the incident showing a large Chinese ship chasing and ramming the Vietnamese boat, but Beijing falsified the claim saying that the Chinese Coast Guard ordered the ship to leave but it refused and hit the Chinese ship.
Vietnam government has filed a diplomatic protest to China following the incident saying that it "threatened the lives and damaged the property and legitimate interests of Vietnamese fishermen".
It can be remembered that the Philippines last June 2019 went into the same experience when a Chinese vessel also rammed "GemVer" Filipino fishing boat and was rescued by Vietnamese fishermen. The incident became a big hit in the Duterte administration over his downplaying of the maritime dispute in the South China Sea.
"We have not stopped and will not stop thanking Vietnam. It is with that in mind that we issue this statement of solidarity," DFA said in a statement.
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