Chinese, Philippine Ships Collide Amid Growing Tensions at Sea

By Bloomberg News

Aug 31, 2024 (Bloomberg) –Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided in a disputed patch of the South China Sea on Saturday, the latest such incident amid rising tensions between the two nations. The two sides blamed each other for the event.

Liu Dejun, a spokesperson with the China Coast Guard, accused Philippine Coast Guard vessel 9701 of intentionally causing the collision in an “unprofessional and dangerous manner” near Xianbin Reef at 12:06pm on Saturday. Chinese maritime police will take necessary measures to protect against such acts, Liu said in a statement posted on the Coast Guard’s website.

Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippines said a China Coast Guard ship “directly and intentionally rammed” a Philippine Coast Guard ship, in a briefing streamed live on Facebook. “The Philippine Coast Guard vessel did not provoke” the Chinese vessel, Tarriela said, adding that the ramming damaged the Philippine boat.

China has taken an increasingly aggressive stance toward Philippine ships it accuses of entering waters Beijing says are its own, despite an international tribunal dismissing those claims in favor of Manila. After repeated incidents, the two nations have tried to enact a “provisional arrangement” to ease tensions in certain parts of the contested waters.

The Philippines has signaled it’s weighing whether to broaden the scope of that agreement, but the government has also warned that China’s actions undercut efforts to build confidence between the two sides. 

© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Subscribe for Daily Maritime Insights

Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update

— trusted by our 109,335 members