At least four Filipino crew members were injured in a clash between the Chinese coast guard and a Philippine military supply ship on Tuesday morning. International news agencies report this. According to Philippine authorities, the supply ship’s windshield shattered when it was hit by water cannons from two Chinese coast guard ships.
The incident followed two clashes earlier in the morning between the Chinese coast guard and Philippine ships. The ships were en route to a military base on the Second Thomas Shoal, a sandbar west of the Philippines, as part of a Philippine supply mission. China appropriates the area and has surrounded it, even though China’s claims are unlawful according to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. Last year there were several collisions between Philippine and Chinese ships, but they often ended with minor damage at most.
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The Philippine government points to the “dangerous maneuvers” of the Chinese coast guard, which allegedly cut off the Philippine ships. That would have led to the clashes. The Philippines has summoned a Chinese diplomat to Manila in response to the “aggressive actions.” The Chinese Coast Guard said in a statement that “it took control measures in accordance with the law” against the Philippine ships that “illegally” entered the waters under Chinese control. A Chinese coast guard spokesman said a Philippine ship had deliberately rammed a Chinese coast guard ship.
Philippine Army Col. Michael Logico also announced in a meeting Tuesday morning that the Philippines will jointly conduct military exercises with the United States next month on Philippine islands bordering the South China Sea and Taiwan, other than inland areas. The confrontation on Tuesday took place just before a meeting of the regional association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where China’s position in the South China Sea is being discussed by member states.