Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, including waters and islands near the coasts of several of its neighbors, despite an international court ruling.
:quality(50)/2023/07/06/64a68815cd1a7_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Reading time: 1 min
:quality(50)/2024/06/17/000-34m38wu-1-666fbfeac3f04091740331.jpg)
Two Philippine and Chinese ships collided in the South China Sea on Monday June 17 near the Spratly Islands disputed by the two countries. “The Philippine supply ship ignored many warnings from the Chinese side” And “approached the Chinese vessel (..) in an unprofessional manner, causing a collision”, report the Chinese coast guard. Beijing accuses the boat of having “illegally entered the waters near Ren’ai Reef”, the Chinese name for the Second Thomas Atoll located in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands for Beijing). The atoll is located about 200 kilometers from the Philippine archipelago of Palawan, and more than 1,000 kilometers from the nearest Chinese coast, Hainan Island.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, including waters and islands near the coasts of several of its neighbors, despite an international court ruling in 2016. Earlier this month, the military Filipino had denounced the “seizure” illegal by Chinese boats of food and medicine dropped by plane in mid-May, intended for the Philippine military outpost on this same atoll, and had accused Beijing of“aggressive and unprovoked interference”. A few days later, the Philippine coast guard released a video showing their Chinese counterparts blocking and colliding with two Philippine ships which were carrying out the medical evacuation of a soldier.
