Philippines says Chinese ship ‘rammed’ govt boat in South China Sea, Beijing alleges violation of international law

“The China Coast Guard deliberately rammed a civilian government vessel on a humanitarian and livelihood mission,” the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

A Chinese Coast Guard vessel allegedly rammed a Philippine boat on a resupply mission in the South China Sea on Friday in the latest confrontation between the two countries in disputed waters. Damage was reported on its railings and deck structures, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

Meanwhile, China's Global Times quoted CCG's official WeChat account as saying that a Philippine vessel “caused a collision with a China Coast Guard (CCG) boat near Xianbin Jiao in China's Nansha Qundao on Friday after ignoring repeated warnings and cutting across its bow.”

No one was injured in the incident.

What exactly happened?

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel BRP Datu Magat Salamat was on a mission to distribute fuel to Filipino fishermen about 54 nautical miles off the coast of Palawan province when a China Coast Guard vessel carried out a series of dangerous manoeuvres and made contact with the Philippine ship.

"The China Coast Guard deliberately rammed a civilian government vessel on a humanitarian and livelihood mission," it said in a statement, as per Reuters.

Video released by the PCG showed crew members shouting "brace for impact!" moments before the collision, which took place at 11:13 am (0313 GMT).

Photographs taken after the impact showed bent and detached railings, damaged metal supports and debris scattered across the deck, Reuters reported.

China warns Philippine

The China Coast Guard said in a statement that it carried out law enforcement operations in the waters near Sabina Shoal on Friday, after the Philippine vessel "disregarded repeated solemn warnings, deliberately altered its course and suddenly accelerated to cut across the bow of our vessel."

It said the Chinese boat had operated professionally and that the blame for the collision lay with the Philippine side.

“The CCG boat Sanzhou'ao was conducting lawful rights protection and law enforcement operations in the area on Friday when a Philippine vessel 3015 deliberately changed course and suddenly accelerated to cut diagonally across its bow, resulting in a collision,” Jiang Lue, a spokesperson of CCG, was quoted by Global Times as saying.

“The Philippine vessel's actions seriously violated international law and basic norms governing international relations and threatened the safety of CCG vessels and personnel, Jiang said. The Chinese boat's operations were professional, standardised, reasonable and lawful, thus the responsibility lay entirely with the Philippine side,” he added.

"We sternly warn the Philippine side to immediately stop all acts of infringement and provocation, or bear all consequences arising from them," Jiang said.

In July, Manila accused Beijing of firing water cannon ‌at government vessels near the Scarborough Shoal and striking a Philippine Navy staff member on the head with a wooden baton during an encounter in the Second Thomas Shoal.

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