A Filipino boat on a resupply mission was rammed by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel on Sunday (Dec 10), the Philippine Coast Guard said, a day after another confrontation in the hotly contested South China Sea.
Also read: The Philippines accuses the Chinese coast guard of firing water cannons at its boats
Beijing, in turn, accused the Philippine ship of “intentionally” colliding with a Chinese coast guard ship.
On Sunday morning, four Filipino ships “illegally entered the waters of the Spratly Islands claimed by China,” the Chinese Coast Guard said in a statement, adding that a Filipino ship “disregarded our multiple and strict warnings (…) and suddenly the “I changed direction.” intentionally collided with our Coast Guard vessel in an unprofessional and dangerous manner.”
A long history of maritime disputes
The incident, which occurred near Second Thomas, an atoll in the Spratly Islands, came a day after another confrontation with Chinese coast guards who used water cannons to “obstruct” three Philippine government boats carrying fishermen in the near Scarborough Shoal. A Beijing-controlled reef off the Philippine island of Luzon caused “severe damage to the engine” of one of the boats, said Jay Tarriela on X, coast guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea.
Manila and Beijing have a long history of maritime disputes in the South China Sea, through which billions of dollars worth of goods move each year. Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, including waters and islands near its neighbors' coasts, and has ignored a 2016 international tribunal ruling that the claim had no legal basis.
The Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim several reefs and islands in this sea, some of which may contain rich oil deposits.
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