China, Philippines face off over South China Sea collision

Beijing/Manila, June 17

China and the Philippines traded accusations over a collision in the South China Sea on Monday, with Manila saying its armed forces would resist Beijing’s actions in the disputed waters in the latest in an increasingly testy series of confrontations.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

For months, China and the Philippines have traded barbs over dangerous manoeuvres and collisions at the Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll within Manila’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea.

In the latest incident on Monday, China’s coastguard said a Philippine supply ship “deliberately and dangerously” approached a Chinese ship resulting in a slight collision after the Philippine ship “illegally intruded” into waters near Second Thomas Shoal, a charge that Manila rejected as “deceptive and misleading”.

The Philippines’ task force on the South China Sea said Chinese vessels engaged in ramming and towing, putting lives at risk and damaging boats. “China’s dangerous and reckless behaviour in the West Philippine Sea shall be resisted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” Gilberto Teodoro, Manila’s defence minister, said in a statement. “China’s actions are the true obstacles to peace and stability in the South China Sea.”

US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson condemned China’s “aggressive, dangerous” manoeuvres. — Reuters