A Chinese coast guard ship and one of its militia vessels separately bumped a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat off a disputed atoll in the South China Sea on Sunday “in dangerous, irresponsible and illegal actions”, officials in the Philippines said.
They did not say if there were any injuries or damage from the two incidents off the Second Thomas Shoal that the United States, a long-time treaty ally of the Philippines, immediately condemned.
The Philippines government also condemned the latest confrontation in “the strongest degree” and called it a violation of Manila’s sovereignty.
The Chinese coast guard said the Philippines vessels “trespassed” into what it said are Chinese waters “without authorisation” despite repeated radio warnings, prompting its ships to stop them. It blamed the Philippines vessels for causing the collisions.
“The Philippine side’s behaviour seriously violates the international rules on avoiding collisions at sea and threatens the navigation safety of our vessels,” the Chinese coast guard said in a statement posted on its website.
She used the initials for China’s formal name, the People’s Republic of China, and the name the Philippines uses for the Second Thomas Shoal.
She added that Washington is standing with its allies to help protect Philippines sovereignty and to support a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
A Philippines government task force said the collisions occurred as two Philippines supply boats escorted by two coast guard ships were heading to deliver food and other supplies to the atoll in the face of a years-long Chinese blockade.
The task force said it “condemns in the strongest degree the latest dangerous, irresponsible, and illegal actions of the Chinese coast guard and the Chinese maritime militia done this morning in violation of Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction”.
The actions by the Chinese ships were “in utter blatant disregard of the United Nations Charter, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” and international regulations that aim to prevent sea collisions, said the Philippines task force, which includes the country’s defence and foreign affairs departments, the military, national security council and the coast guard.
Near-collisions have happened frequently as Philippines vessels regularly deliver supplies to Filipino marines and sailors stationed on the disputed shoal. But this was the first time Philippines officials have reported their country’s vessels being hit by China’s ships.
It said the “provocative, irresponsible, and illegal action” of the Chinese coast guard ship “imperilled the safety of the crew”.
Separately, Philippine coast guard ship BRP Cabra’s left side “was bumped by Chinese maritime militia vessel 00003 while it was lying to” the north-east of the Second Thomas Shoal, the statement said.
Despite the Chinese coast guard blockade, one of the two Philippine navy-manned boats managed to manoeuvre past the Chinese vessels and deliver supplies to the small contingent stationed on board a long-marooned but still actively commissioned warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, the task force said.
It was the latest flare-up in long-simmering territorial disputes in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest trade routes.
The conflicts, which involve China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, are regarded as a potential flashpoint and have become a delicate fault line in US-China rivalry in the region.
In early August, a Chinese coast guard ship used a water cannon against one of two Philippines supply boats to prevent it from approaching Second Thomas Shoal.
The move, which was caught on video, outraged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and prompted the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila to summon the Chinese ambassador to convey a strongly worded protest.
Washington reacted by renewing a warning that it is obligated to defend the Philippines as a treaty ally.
Later in August, the Philippines again deployed two boats that got past the Chinese coast guard blockade and delivered supplies to the Filipino forces at Second Thomas Shoal.
Two Philippine coast guard ships escorting the supply boats, however, were prevented by Chinese coast guard ships from manoeuvring closer to the shoal.
A US Navy surveillance aircraft flew in circles in support of the Philippines vessels as the stand-off continued for more than three hours.
A 2016 arbitration ruling set up under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea invalidated Beijing’s claims on historical grounds to virtually the entire South China Sea.
China refused to participate in the arbitration sought by the Philippines, rejected the decision and continues to defy it.
