On Monday, the Chinese Coast Guard announced that a Philippine ship and a Chinese vessel collided near the Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea.
The Second Thomas Shoal, also known as the Ren’ai Reef in Chinese, is home to a garrison of Philippine troops stationed on the Sierra Madre, a grounded navy vessel, to maintain Manila’s claims to the waters.
The area has experienced several confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships, most notably when the Philippines attempted to supply the garrison.
The Shoal is approximately 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometres from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan Island.
In a statement, the Chinese coast guard stated “A Philippine resupply ship in the area had ignored many solemn warnings from the Chinese side”.
“It approached the… Chinese vessel in an unprofessional way, resulting in a collision”, the statement reads.
Beijing stated that the ship had illegally broken into the sea near Ren’ai Reef in China’s Nansha Islands.
“The Chinese Coast Guard took control measures against the Philippine ship in accordance with the law”, the statement continued.
Beijing claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, brushing aside competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its stance has no legal basis.
China uses coast guard and other boats to patrol the waters and has converted numerous reefs into militarised artificial islands.
This month, Manila accused Chinese ships of illegally seizing food and medication airdropped to the Philippine outpost at the Second Thomas Shoal.
“It was the first time supplies had been seized”, the military noted.
Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad stated, “Chinese sailors on the vessels then tossed the items into the water”
“It was not clear if they belonged to the Chinese Coast Guard or Navy”, the military added.
China responded by insisting that the Sierra Madre was unlawfully grounded on the reef and urging the Philippines to stop making trouble.
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