The day after two collisions between Chinese coast guard vessels and Philippine boats, near the Second Thomas Shoal Atoll, a small contested garrison in the South China Sea, the Philippines and China continued, Monday, October 23, to reject each other’s responsibility for incidents. Manila summoned the Chinese ambassador and accused the Chinese ships of “intentionally” ramming the Philippine boats, while Beijing issued a “solemn” protest.

“We are making full use of the diplomatic procedures (…) at our disposal. This includes summoning the Chinese ambassador, which we did this [Monday] morning,” Philippine Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teresita Daza told reporters. Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian was unavailable and was represented by his deputy head of mission during the meeting. Mr. Huang was last summoned by Manila in August after the Chinese coast guard used a water cannon on Philippine ships near the same atoll.

“Ayungin Shoal is part of our exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, and we have sovereign rights and jurisdiction over it,” Daza said, using the Filipino name for the atoll located in the Spratlys and controlled by Manila .

China, for its part, sent a “solemn” protest through diplomatic channels to the Philippines, expressing its “strong dissatisfaction” and its “firm opposition” after the “intrusion” of Philippine ships around the disputed atoll, the Chinese embassy in Manila said Monday. Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea despite rival claims from the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia, ignoring a 2016 international judgment against it.

Supply mission

The collisions occurred Sunday as the Philippines was conducting a routine resupply mission for its troops at the isolated outpost about 200 kilometers from the Philippine island of Palawan and more than a thousand kilometers from China’s main island. the nearest, Hainan.

In 1999, the Philippines deliberately stranded a military boat, the BRP Sierra Madre, on the atoll with the aim of installing troops there and asserting its claims to sovereignty against China. The ship has since been a source of tension between Beijing and Manila. The Philippine Marines on board depend on resupply missions to survive.

On Sunday, “the dangerous blocking maneuvers of the Chinese Coast Guard vessel 5203 caused it to collide with the supply boat (…) under contract with the Armed Forces of the Philippines” some 25 kilometers from the coral island, castigated a Philippine government intervention force.

China cited a “mild collision” after the Philippine boat ignored “multiple warnings and deliberately crossed law enforcement in an unprofessional and dangerous manner,” according to state television CCTV, citing the foreign ministry.

In a second incident afterward, a Philippine Coast Guard vessel escorting the resupply mission was “struck” by what Manila called a “Chinese maritime militia vessel.” Beijing, however, accused the Philippine boat of having “deliberately” caused a collision by backing up in a “premeditated” manner towards a Chinese fishing vessel.

Video released by the Philippine military shows the bow of the Chinese coast guard and the stern of the Manila supply ship briefly touched. Then, the Philippine ship continued its journey without it being possible to determine whether there had been any damage. For Beijing, “responsibility for Sunday’s incidents lies entirely with the Philippines.”

Washington, Manila’s military ally and former colonial power, gave it its “support” and denounced in a statement from the State Department “the dangerous actions” and “violation of international law” of the coast guard and the “militia maritime” of China.