MANILA, Philippines – A Chinese coast guard ship and an escort ship rammed a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-run supply boat off a disputed shoal on Sunday, Philippine officials said in the South China Sea.
A senior Philippine security official told The Associated Press that there were no injuries among Filipino crew members and an assessment of damage to both ships was underway.
The official said the two incidents near Second Thomas Shoal, where China has repeatedly tried to isolate a Philippine navy outpost, could have been worse if the ships had not been able to quickly separate from the Chinese Remove ships. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
China’s extensive territorial claims in the South China Sea, including on islands closer to the Philippine coast, have raised tensions and drawn the United States, a longtime treaty partner of the Philippines, into battle.
The US ambassador to Manila, MaryKay Carlson, wrote down
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.
The Chinese Coast Guard said the Philippine vessels entered what it said were Chinese waters “without authorization” despite repeated radio warnings, prompting its vessels to stop them. It blamed the Philippine ships for the collisions.
“The conduct of the Philippine side seriously violates the international rules on avoiding collisions at sea and endangers the navigational safety of our ships,” the Chinese Coast Guard said in a statement posted on its website.
Chinese authorities said they were stopping Filipino ships carrying “illegal construction materials.”
A Philippine government task force dealing with the South China Sea said the collisions occurred when two Philippine supply boats, accompanied by two Philippine Coast Guard ships, were en route to deliver food and other supplies to the military outpost, which was under a Chinese blockade.
The Chinese ships’ actions were “in complete 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, it said.
Near misses occurred frequently as Filipino ships delivered supplies to Filipino marines and sailors stationed on the disputed shoal. However, this was the first time that Philippine officials reported that their ships were hit by Chinese vessels.
In the past, Chinese officials have downplayed claims that the Chinese vessels enforcing Beijing’s territorial claims were actually paramilitary vessels disguised as fishing boats.
Despite Chinese efforts, one of the two boats managed to maneuver and deliver supplies to the small contingent aboard a stranded warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, the task force said.
The South China Sea is one of the busiest trade routes in the world. The disputes involve China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei and are seen as the focus of a delicate 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. It outraged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and prompted the Foreign Ministry in Manila to summon the Chinese ambassador to deliver a strongly worded 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.
European Union Ambassador to Manila Luc Veron said the incidents were “dangerous and very worrying in their repetition and intensification.” The EU, he added, joins the Philippines “in its call for full compliance with international law in the South China Sea.”
A 2016 arbitration ruling, issued under the UN 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.
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Associated Press writer Huizhong Wu in Bangkok contributed to this report.