The Philippine government stated on August 25 that a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries ship was rammed and hit with a water-cannon by a Chinese coast guard vessel earlier that day while delivering food, fuel, and medical supplies to Filipino fishermen at Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea. While the Philippine supply ship sailed from Half Moon Shoal to Sabina Shoal, the Chinese vessels’ “dangerous maneuvers” caused the Philippine ship’s engine to fail, forcing it to abandon the supply mission.
In response, Gan Yu, a spokesperson for the China Coast Guard, issued a statement claiming that a Philippine vessel “illegally entered the waters near China’s Xianbin Reef in the Nansha Islands without permission from the Chinese government, and that the China Coast Guard took control measures according to the law.” The statement accused the Philippine vessel of “ignoring China’s stern warnings” and “deliberately colliding with the Chinese coast guard ship in an unprofessional and dangerous manner.” It stated that “responsibility [for the incident] lies entirely on the Philippine side.”
In April of this year, the Philippine Coast Guard accused Chinese vessels of dumping crushed coral on Sabina Shoal, a possible attempt at land reclamation. Since then, the Philippine Coast Guard has stationed one of its largest patrol ships at the shoal to monitor the area.
There have been several intense and dangerous confrontations between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea in August, including a confrontation between vessels near the Second Thomas Shoal; two Chinese military aircraft firing flares at a Philippine Air Force patrol plane over Scarborough Shoal on August 8, and a second occurrence of Chinese aircraft firing flares at a Philippine plane over the Subi Reef on August 22.
Source: VOA, August 25, 2024
https://www.voachinese.com/a/china-philippines-clash-in-south-china-sea-despite-efforts-to-rebuild-trust-20240825/7756250.html