The new maritime clash that revives tensions between Manila and Beijing – L’Express

Chinese- and Philippine-flagged ships collided on Monday, August 19, in a fresh clash 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 Gan Yu as saying.

Beijing claims almost 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 confrontations 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,” it said. Gan Yu, using the Chinese names for Sabina Atoll and the Spratly Islands. “The Chinese Coast Guard has taken control measures against the Philippine vessels in accordance with the law,” Beijing added.

The Philippine agency in charge of the case said two of its coast guard vessels were damaged after colliding with Chinese vessels that were carrying out “illegal and aggressive maneuvers” near Sabina Atoll. The maneuvers “resulted in collisions that caused 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 Philippine, collided with a Chinese vessel on its port side before continuing on its way. Other footage from Chinese state broadcaster showed the Chinese vessel 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 the move “unprofessional and dangerous.” “We strongly urge the Philippine side to immediately stop its violations and provocations,” Gan Yu said.

But Manila has blamed Beijing. The hull of a Philippine ship, the BRP Cape Enganosuffered a 13-centimeter puncture, according to Philippine National Security Council Director General Jonathan Malaya. Fifteen minutes later, a second Philippine vessel, the BRP Bagacaywas “rammed twice” by a Chinese coast guard vessel and suffered “minor structural damage,” Malaya said. The Filipino crew was not injured and continued their mission of resupplying the Spratly Islands, he added.

State news agency Xinhua said the incident occurred at 03:24 local time (19:24 GMT Sunday). It also said the Philippine Coast Guard vessel then entered waters near Second Thomas Reef at around 06:00 hours.

Second Thomas Atoll, home to a small Philippine garrison stationed on a naval vessel that was 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 Philippine ships in recent months as Beijing steps up efforts to assert its claim to nearly the entire South China Sea.