South China Sea: Collision between Chinese and Philippine ships in the disputed sea
The Philippines on Tuesday accused the Chinese coast guard of carrying out " unsafe maneuvers" that led to the collision between its coast guard vessel and a Chinese vessel during a resupply mission for Philippine troops in the South China Sea.
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Jay Tarriela said on social media platform X that the PCG vessel suffered minor structural damage.
“Their reckless and illegal actions led to the collision,” Tarriela said in the social media post, accompanied by a video showing the moment the ships collided on their bows. Here is the spokesperson's social post:
The PCG vessel was one of two Coast Guard vessels assisting in the mission of carrying supplies for a handful of Philippine troops stationed at a warship that Manila had blocked on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to enforce sovereignty claims .
But China's coast guard said Philippine vessels had illegally intruded into waters adjacent to the shoal, which China calls Renai Reef, and had to take enforcement measures.
Statement of the National Task Force-West Philippine Sea
This morning, China Coast Guard (CCG) and Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) vessels harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers in another attempt to illegally impede or obstruct a routine… pic.twitter.com/uJ1kjDR6zq
— Jay Tarriela (@jaytaryela) March 5, 2024
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, which includes the Second Thomas Shoal, and has deployed ships to patrol it, including what Manila calls “Chinese maritime militias,” which were also present during the resupply mission.
Tuesday's incident was the latest in a series of maritime clashes between the Philippines and China, which is engaged in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea despite a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration finding that China's claims China have no legal basis. Beijing rejects the ruling.
While saying the Philippines will cooperate in talks with China, its President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said at a forum in Australia on Monday that his country will resist, opening a new reckoning when its sovereignty and maritime rights are compromised. ignored.
In a departure from the pro-China stance of his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, Marcos accused Beijing of aggression in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, including the use of water cannons, "military-style" lasers and collision tactics to drive ships away philippines.
The Chinese Coast Guard released a brief statement on the latest incident between the two countries and other past Coast Guard actions, including a connection to what it called the “illegal invasion of Scarborough Shoal” on February 23.
On that occasion, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel took necessary measures to remove a Philippine vessel in accordance with the law.
Even if, for now, we have been content to clash with water cannons and shoves, the situation can always degenerate. The South China Sea is a permanent crisis area that cannot be resolved without an accepted and shared definition of the boundaries.
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The article South China Sea: Collision between Chinese and Philippine ships in the disputed sea comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/mar-cinese-meridionale-collisione-fra-navi-cinesi-e-filippine-nel-mare-contestato/ on Tue, 05 Mar 2024 09:00:16 +0000.