MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Chinese coast guard ship and one of its militia vessels separately encountered a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat off a disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Sunday, “through dangerous, irresponsible and illegal actions.” Philippine officials said.
They did not say whether there were injuries or damage in the two incidents off Second Thomas Shoal, which the United States, a longtime treaty partner of the Philippines, immediately condemned. The Philippine government also condemned the recent confrontation “in the strongest possible terms,” calling it a violation of Manila’s sovereignty.
Chinese Embassy officials did not immediately comment on the Philippine report.
U.S. Ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson said in a post on .”
She used the initials for China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China, and the name the Philippines uses for Second Thomas Shoal. She added that Washington stands with its allies to help protect Philippine sovereignty and support a free and open Indo-Pacific region.
A Philippine government task force said the collisions occurred as two Philippine supply boats, accompanied by two Philippine Coast Guard ships, were traveling to deliver food and other supplies to the atoll amid a years-long Chinese blockade.
The task force said it “strongly condemns the recent dangerous, irresponsible and illegal actions of the Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia committed this morning in violation of the sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the Philippines.”
The Chinese ships’ actions were “in total disregard of the United Nations Charter, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea” and international regulations aimed at preventing collisions at sea, said the Philippine task force, which includes the country’s defense and foreign affairs, the military, the National Security Council and the Coast Guard.
Near misses were common as Filipino ships regularly delivered supplies to Filipino marines and sailors stationed on the disputed shoal. However, this was the first time that Philippine officials reported that their country’s ships were attacked by Chinese vessels.
In the first incident, which occurred on Sunday morning, “dangerous blocking maneuvers by Chinese coast guard vessel 5203 caused it to collide with the Armed Forces of the Philippines-contracted indigenous supply boat Unaiza on May 2,” the task force statement said. It said the Chinese coast guard ship’s “provocative, irresponsible and illegal actions” “endangered the safety of the crew.”
Separately, the left side of the Philippine coast guard ship BRP Cabra “was struck by Chinese maritime militia vessel 00003 while lying northeast of Second Thomas Shoal,” the statement said.
Despite the Chinese Coast Guard blockade, one of the two Philippine Navy-manned boats managed to maneuver past the Chinese ships and take the small contingent aboard a long-stranded but still actively commissioned warship, the BRP Sierra Madre To resupply Kraft 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 involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei are seen as a potential flashpoint and have become a sensitive fault line in the US-China rivalry in the region.
In early August, a Chinese Coast Guard ship used a water cannon against one of two Philippine supply boats to prevent it from approaching Second Thomas Shoal. The move, captured on video, outraged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and prompted the Foreign Ministry in Manila to summon the Chinese ambassador to deliver a strong protest.
Washington responded by warning again that it was committed to defending the Philippines as a treaty partner.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry accused Washington of “threatening China” by raising the possibility of activating the US-Philippines mutual defense treaty. Beijing has repeatedly warned the US against interfering in regional territorial disputes.
Later in August, the Philippines again deployed two boats that overcame the Chinese Coast Guard blockade and resupplied Philippine forces at Second Thomas Shoal. However, two Philippine Coast Guard ships accompanying the supply boats were prevented from maneuvering closer to the shoal by Chinese Coast Guard vessels. A U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft flew in circles in support of the Philippine ships as the standoff lasted more than three hours.
A 2016 arbitration ruling based on the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea invalidated Beijing’s claims to virtually the entire South China Sea on historical grounds. China refused to participate in the arbitration requested by the Philippines, rejected the decision and continues to oppose it.