PH, Chinese ships collide in Ayungin

(UPDATES) FILIPINO and Chinese vessels collided near Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the South China Sea on Monday, the China Coast Guard (CCG) said, but the Philippine military called the report “misleading and deceptive.”

Known in Chinese as the Ren’ai Reef, Ayungin Shoal has seen an escalating number of confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in recent months.

These have often taken place during Philippine attempts to supply a garrison of Philippine troops on a grounded navy vessel, the BRP Sierra Madre, aimed at asserting Manila’s claims to the reef.

The shoal lies about 200 kilometers from the western Philippine island of Palawan and within the country’s exclusive economic zone. On the other hand, it is more than 1,000 kilometers from China’s nearest major land mass, Hainan Island, but Beijing insists it is part of Chinese territory.

The CCG said a Philippine resupply ship in the area had “ignored many solemn warnings from the Chinese side.”

It “approached the… Chinese vessel in an unprofessional way, resulting in a collision,” Beijing said.

Beijing accused the ship of having “illegally broken into the sea near Ren’ai Reef in China’s Nansha Islands.”

“The Chinese coast guard took control measures against the Philippine ship in accordance with the law.”

Manila, in response, said it would “not dignify the deceptive and misleading claims of the China Coast Guard.”

“The main issue remains… the illegal presence and actions of Chinese vessels within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, which infringes on our sovereignty and sovereign rights,” the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said in a statement.

“The continued aggressive actions of the CCG are escalating tensions in the region,” it added.

Beijing claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, brushing aside competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that Beijing’s stance has no legal basis.

It deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waters and has turned several reefs into militarized artificial islands.

And it has, in recent months, stepped up moves against Philippine vessels in the area around the shoal.

This month, Manila accused Chinese boats of illegally seizing food and medicine airdropped to the Philippine outpost in the area.

It was the first time supplies had been seized, the military said.

Chinese personnel on the boats later dumped the items in the water, Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Commo. Roy Vincent Trinidad said.

It was not clear if they belonged to the CCG or navy, the military said.

China in response insisted the Sierra Madre was illegally grounded on the reef and urged the Philippines to “stop making trouble.”

On Saturday, new Chinese coast guard rules took effect under which it can detain foreigners for alleged trespassing in the disputed sea.

Manila has accused the CCG of “barbaric and inhumane behavior” against Philippine vessels, and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has called the new rules a “very worrisome” escalation.

China has defended its new coast guard rules. A foreign ministry spokesman said last month they were intended to “better uphold order at sea.”

CCG vessels have used water cannons against Philippine boats multiple times in the contested waters.

There have also been collisions that injured Philippine troops.

The G7 bloc on Friday criticized what it called “dangerous” incursions by China in the South China Sea.

Confrontations between China and the Philippines have raised fears of a wider conflict over the sea that could involve the United States and other allies.

Trillions of dollars in ship-borne trade passes through the South China Sea annually, and huge unexploited oil and gas deposits are believed to lie under its seabed, though estimates vary greatly.

Neither the AFP nor the Philippine Coast Guard offered any details of the reported collision.

“The AFP will not discuss operational details on the legal humanitarian rotation and resupply mission at Ayungin Shoal, which is well within our EEZ (exclusive economic zone),” AFP public affairs office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said in a message to reporters. “We will not dignify the deceptive and misleading claims of the China Coast Guard.”

No other statements were issued by the Philippine government.

Retired US Air Force colonel Ray Powell, director of SeaLight, a maritime transparency project that monitors and reports activities in the South China Sea, said that just hours after the reported collision, the PCG patrol ship BRP Bagacay was intercepted at 8 a.m. by China maritime militia ship Qiong Sansha Yu 00103, about 20 nautical miles southeast of Ayungin Shoal.

He said BRP Bagacay later turned north and entered an area “thick” with China’s militia vessels 18 nautical miles due east of 2nd Ayungin.

“Not clear why, unless to lend aid to a resupply vessel possibly in that area,” said Powell.

He said at least three CCG ships were monitored in Ayungin but all were not broadcasting detectable automatic identification system transponder signals.

WITH AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE AND PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY