South China Sea: Furious Philippine protestors burn Chinese flags after fishing boat sunk

The number of flags represents the number of crew left abandoned by the other ship before being rescued by a Vietnamese vessel. Claimants encourage fishermen to fish in the disputed sea and the Chinese vessel is believed to be another fishing boat. As reported by the South China Morning Post, Mr Duterte dismissed the incident as “just a collision”.

Manila has disputes with Beijing over parts of the region but has avoided pressing forward as to not jeopardise economic and diplomatic ties.

Protestors in Rizal Park held placards reading “End China Aggression” and “China hands off Filipino fishermen”.

Politicians have made increasingly violent statements on the matter with Foreign Minister Teddy Locsin Junior tweeting: “F**k the international community. It can be bought.”

Mr Loscin dismissed calls to seek international support to respond to the incident and vowed the nation ought to fight “alone”.

READ MORE: South China Sea warning: Tensions at breaking point

But Mr Duterte branded the collision a “hit-and-run” and called for the Philippine people to not “make it worse”.

Christian Lloyd Magsoy, spokesman for Defend Philippine Jobs who organised the demonstration accused the leader of failing the fisherman, his people and “national sovereignty”.

Mr Magsoy explained: “Contrary to what Mr Duterte projects against his critics, his weak positions against Chinese aggression and bullying have only exposed him as a pro-China, anti-Filipino president.”

Ramon Beleno III, a political science academic said people also protested due to a perception that Chinese immigration was a threat to jobs in The Philippines.

He said that if tensions continue to escalate, it may cause tensions for the 1.35million ethnic Chinese living in The Philippines.

Mr Beleno said: “Unless and until there are concrete actions from the government, I think the anger of the people will grow.

“If the Chinese people see the burning of the flags, they might have the same sentiments and it will be a problem.”

The US Ambassador to The Philippines Sung Kim has called for a full investigation of the sinking.

source: express.co.uk