Coast Guard Ship Collides With Supply Carrier, Philippines Calls China Aggressor

The intercept of a Chinese coast guard ship on a Philippine coast guard ship that will deliver supplies to Beting Ayungin on June 30, 2023. (Wikimedia Commons/Philippine Coast Guard)

JAKARTA - The Philippines accused China of escalating tensions in the South China Sea after their supply carriers were hit by Chinese ships on Sunday.

The collision involved a small supply ship made of wood with a much larger Beijing coast guard ship. No one was injured as a result of the incident. However, it has drawn international condemnation and concern from the United States.

"All incidents like this will strengthen the suspicion that it is not the Philippines that is the aggressor, but another party, namely China," Philippine Foreign Ministry spokesman Teresita Daza said at a press conference Monday.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. held a security meeting on Monday to discuss "the latest Chinese breach", ordering his country's coast guard to investigate the incident, which his office said was "seriously taken at the highest level of government".

Separately, China's coast guard said there had been a minor collision between one of its ships and a Philippine ship, assessing their coast guard "legally" prevented the ship from transporting "illegal construction materials".

Meanwhile, in an image released by the Philippine coast guard, four ships carrying out supply missions on Sunday were surrounded by seven larger Chinese coast guard vessels.

Spokesman for the Philippine National Security Council Jonathan Malaya said China's actions led to a collision on Sunday.

"We are relieved and grateful that no Filipino personnel were injured. However, we are concerned about the escalation and provocations carried out by Chinese ships, which have no business in the West Philippine Sea," explained Malaya.

Supply missions are activities carried out by the Philippines for their troops at BRP Sierra Madre, a former warship that ran aground on the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea in 1999, to assert Manila's sovereignty.

The Philippines referred to the region as Beting Ayungin, while China called it the Renai Reef. It is in the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for 200 nautical miles.

This is not the first time China's coast guard, backed by its maritime militia ships, has disrupted a Philippine supply mission. On August 5, a Chinese coast guard vessel used water cannons to attack Philippine supply ships.

It is known that China and the Philippines were involved in a maritime confrontation, related to the territorial claims of the two countries in very strategic waters.

The Philippines has asked China to stop "illegal" and "provocative" actions in the South China Sea, saying Beijing must respect the Permanent Court's decision in 2016, which declared China's major claims in the South China Sea to have no legal basis.

Tensions between the two countries have risen under the leadership of President Marcos Jr., who complained of Beijing's aggressive behavior, and then sought to improve closer ties with its ally, the United States.