The Philippines accused a Chinese coastguard vessel of colliding with a Philippine resupply boat on its way to a tiny garrison in the disputed South China Sea on Sunday.
The incident took place near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, a hotly contested zone where Beijing has deployed hundreds of warships to stake its claims over nearly the whole sea.
The dangerous blocking maneuvers of China Coast Guard vessel 5203 caused it to collide with the Armed Forces of the Philippines-contracted indigenous resupply boat roughly 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Second Thomas Shoal, according to a Philippine government task force.
A Philippine coastguard vessel accompanying a normal resupply trip was bumped by what the task force described as a Chinese Maritime Militia vessel in another incident.
In a statement, the Philippine government task force stated, “The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea condemns in the strongest degree the latest dangerous, irresponsible, and illegal actions of the CCG and the Chinese Maritime Militia done this morning”.
“The provocative, irresponsible, and illegal action of the Chinese coastguard boat had endangered the safety of the crew on board the supply boat”, the statement reads.
It went on to say, “A second resupply boat was able to reach the grounded BRP Sierra Madre and successfully resupply our troops and personnel stationed there”.
China claims nearly the entire South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade pass each year, and has defied an international verdict that its claim has a legal basis.
Second Thomas Shoal lies around 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan and over 1,000 kilometres from China’s nearest significant landmass, Hainan Island.
In 1999, the Philippine Navy purposefully grounded the World War II-era BRP Sierra Madre on the shoal to halt China’s expansion in the waterways.
The troops stationed on the stricken ship rely on regular supply delivery to survive.
The Philippines, a long-standing US ally, has installations on nine Spratly reefs and islands, including the Second Thomas Shoal.
Tensions between Manila and Beijing erupted in August when Chinese Coast Guard warships deployed water cannons against a Philippine resupply mission to the reef, preventing one of the ships from delivering its cargo.
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