Chinese and Philippine Coast Guard vessels collided in the South China Sea on Monday near the Sabina Shoal in the disputed South China Sea.
The two sides are trading blame for the incident, which happened despite diplomatic efforts between Beijing and Manila to cool tensions in the waters. Sabina Shoal is part of the Spratly Islands and is claimed by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan.
The Chinese Coast Guard said the Philippine vessel “illegally” entered waters near Sabina Shoal, which is about 86 miles west of the Philippine island of Palawan, and accused it of purposely colliding with the Chinese vessel.
The Philippines disputed the Chinese account, saying the Chinese vessel was conducting “unlawful and aggressive maneuvers” and rammed the Philippine boat. Philippine authorities said there was a second incident where the Chinese vessel rammed another Philippine vessel near the shoal.
Manila’s National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea said the incident “resulted in collisions causing structural damage to both Philippine Coast Guard vessels.”
The South China Sea has become a potential flashpoint for a war between the US and China since the US has promised the Philippines that the US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty applies to attacks on Philippine vessels in the disputed waters. That means the US has pledged to intervene if the maritime dispute turns hot.
The US has been strengthening its military ties with the Philippines and recently announced $500 million in new military aid for Manila, which is being pulled from the $95 billion foreign military aid bill President Biden signed into law in April.
The US announced the new aid for the Philippines after Manila and Beijing agreed to a deal to ease tensions around Second Thomas Shoal, another disputed reef that’s been the site of frequent collisions. However, China and the Philippines have since disputed the details of the agreement.
Beijing has said the US is escalating the situation in the South China Sea by being involved in the dispute. This view was articulated in an article from China’s Global Times about the latest collision.
The Global Times article reads: “The Philippines’ provocations on Chinese islands and reefs in the South China Sea started about one year ago, and from the beginning they were instigated by the US, which wants to use the Philippines as a foothold on the southern end of the first island chain to form a strategic encirclement designed to contain China, analysts said.”
I mean, it's a pretty small ocean. Just pull off to the side of the shipping lane, exchange maritime skippers' license numbers and insurance provider info, take pics of the damage, report it to local coast guard if the damage is over $5000, and if safe to do do, sail the vessels home or to an insurer-approved shipyard.
Look at the link in the first paragraph. Look at the map. The Sabina Shoal is right outside the Philippines. Far, far away from China. China's dictatorship simply makes up the claim that the entire sea outside the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and Vietnam belongs to them.
Haven't you seen videos of how close the Chinese attackers come to the Philippine coast goard? They do that to intimidate. And to surround ships and then blasting its deck and cabin with very strong water cannons. The Chinese are not "coast guard." They are military attackers, far away from the Chinese coast.