A Philippine boat on a resupply mission was rammed by a Chinese Coast Guard ship on Sunday, the Philippine Coast Guard said, a day after another confrontation in the disputed South China Sea.
A Chinese ship also fired “water cannons” at three Philippine ships involved in the resupply mission, causing “severe damage to the engine” of one of the boats, Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Guard, said on X-Coasts for the West Philippine Sea.
China, in turn, accused a Philippine ship on Sunday 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 (…)” have.
The Philippine vessel “suddenly changed direction in an unprofessional and unsafe manner, intentionally colliding with our Coast Guard Vessel 21556, which was on a normal law enforcement route, and causing a scratch,” the Chinese Coast Guard press release said.
The incident near Second Thomas, an atoll in the Spratly Islands, came a day after another confrontation between Chinese coastguards who “obstructed” three Philippine government boats from providing supplies with water cannons. Filipino fishermen near Scarborough Shoal, a Beijing-controlled reef off the coast of the Philippine island of Luzon.
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 the entire South China Sea, including waters and islands near its neighbors' coasts, ignoring a 2016 ruling by an international court that rejected the claim without 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.