(Beijing) Chinese- and Philippine-flagged ships collided Monday in a fresh skirmish near a disputed reef in the South China Sea, with both countries blaming each other for the incident.
“Despite multiple warnings from the Chinese side, Philippine vessel 4410 deliberately collided with Chinese vessel 21551,” state broadcaster CCTV quoted Chinese Coast Guard spokesman Geng Yu as saying.
Beijing claims nearly the entire South China Sea, including waters and islands near the coasts of several neighboring countries, and has ignored an international tribunal’s ruling in 2016 rejecting the claim as legally groundless.
Tensions between Beijing and Manila have escalated in recent months, marked by a series of clashes in the South China Sea.
“The Philippine Coast Guard vessels illegally entered the waters near Xianbin Reef in the Nansha Islands without the permission of the Chinese government,” Geng said, using the Chinese names for Sabina Atoll and the Spratly Islands.
“The Chinese Coast Guard has taken control measures against Philippine vessels in accordance with the law,” Beijing added.
For its part, the Philippine body in charge of the case indicated that two ships of its coast guard had been damaged after colliding with Chinese boats which were carrying out “illegal and aggressive maneuvers” near the Sabina atoll.
These maneuvers “resulted in collisions causing structural damage to the two Philippine Coast Guard vessels,” the source said in a statement.
“Dangerous” maneuver
According to CCTV footage, a ship, identified by Beijing as Filipino, collided with a Chinese boat on its port side before continuing on its way.
Other footage from Chinese state broadcaster showed the Chinese ship hitting the stern of the Philippine vessel.
CCTV news reports said the incident occurred after the Philippine ship made a “sudden change of direction.” China called it an “unprofessional and dangerous” move.
“We strongly urge the Philippine side to immediately stop its violations and provocations,” Geng said.
State news agency Xinhua said the incident took place at 3:24 a.m. local time (3:24 p.m. CET). [heure de l’Est] Sunday).
She also said the Philippine Coast Guard vessel then entered the waters around Second Thomas Reef at around 6 a.m.
Second Thomas Atoll, home to a small Philippine garrison stationed on a naval vessel wrecked by the Philippine military in 1999, is about 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the Chinese island of Hainan.
It has been the scene of clashes between Chinese and Filipino ships in recent months as Beijing steps up efforts to assert its claims to nearly the entire South China Sea.