Philippines summons Chinese ambassador over South China Sea collisions

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Manila summoned Beijing’s ambassador on Monday over two collisions between Philippine and Chinese vessels in the disputed South China Sea, amid accusations the vessels were “intentionally hit”.

The Philippines and China have traded blame over Sunday’s incidents near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, with both sides filing diplomatic protests and releasing videos to support their accusations.

The two collisions on Sunday happened during a Philippine resupply mission to troops stationed on a crumbling naval vessel grounded on the shoal in 1999 to assert Manila’s territorial claims.

The Philippine foreign ministry summoned China’s ambassador to Manila, Huang Xilian, and lodged a diplomatic protest on Monday over the incident. Ministry spokeswoman Teresita Daza said the ambassador, who was last summoned in August after Chinese coastguard ships used water cannon on Philippine vessels, was unavailable and was represented by his deputy chief of mission, Zhou Zhiyong.

A Chinese diplomat made “solemn representations … expressing strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition to the trespassing” by Philippine vessels into the Ren’ai Reef area, China’s embassy in Manila said, using China’s name for the shoal.

Philippine Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro on Monday labelled China’s actions near the shoal as deliberate, saying: “Chinese coastguard and maritime militia vessels, in blatant violation of international law, harassed and intentionally hit Unaiza May 2 and Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Cabra”.

“We are here to really decry in the strongest possible terms this egregious violation and illegal act within the [Philippines’] 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone and the obfuscation of the truth by China’s distorting the story to fit its own ends,” he said.

His comments came hours after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr had ordered the coastguard to investigate the collisions and called for a meeting with security authorities to discuss the “latest violation by China”, his office said in a Facebook post on Monday.

Jonathan Malaya, spokesman for the Philippine National Security Council, said in a news conference on Monday that China’s move to interfere with a resupply mission on Sunday had resulted in damage to one of Manila’s boats but no one was harmed.

He repeated Manila’s call for China to stop its “provocative actions”, warning that continued attempts to block Philippine resupply missions to the disputed South China Sea atoll could have “disastrous results”.

“We call on China to stop its provocative actions, act responsibly and in accordance with international law and UNCLOS,” he said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“The Philippines will never be deterred by the provocative actions of China,” Malaya said, adding that authorities will continue to provide supply to its outpost in disputed waters.

“We are relieved and thankful that no Filipino personnel were harmed. But we are concerned by the escalation and provocations by Chinese vessels who have no business being in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.

A Philippine government task force said on Sunday the “dangerous blocking manoeuvres of Chinese Coast Guard vessel 5203 caused it to collide with the Armed Forces of the Philippines-contracted indigenous resupply boat” about 25km (15 miles) from the shoal.

China said the “slight collision” happened after the resupply boat ignored “multiple warnings and deliberately passed through law enforcement in an unprofessional and dangerous manner”, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Sunday, citing the foreign ministry.

In another incident, a Philippine coastguard vessel escorting a routine resupply mission was “bumped” by what the Philippine task force described as a “Chinese Maritime Militia vessel”.

China, however, accused the Philippine boat of “deliberately” stirring up trouble by reversing in a “premeditated manner” into a Chinese fishing vessel.

On Monday, the United States renewed a warning that it would defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack under a 1951 treaty, following what it called were “dangerous and unlawful actions” by China’s coastguard and maritime militia.

“The United States stands with our Philippine allies in the face of the People’s Republic of China coastguard and maritime militia’s dangerous and unlawful actions obstructing an October 22 Philippine resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal,” the US State Department said in a statement issued by its embassy in Manila.

It blamed the dangerous manoeuvres by China’s ships for the collisions and added that they “violated international law by intentionally interfering with the Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation.”

The State Department also cited a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated China’s expansive claims to the South China Sea on historical grounds, including in Second Thomas Shoal.

Washington lays no claims to the disputed sea but has deployed forces to patrol the waters to promote freedom of navigation and overflight – moves that have angered Beijing, which has warned the US to stop meddling in what it says is a purely Asian dispute.

The Philippine Navy deliberately grounded the World War II-era BRP Sierra Madre on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to check China’s advance in the waters.

The troops stationed on the crumbling ship depend on regular supply deliveries for their survival.

The Philippines has outposts on nine reefs and islands in the Spratlys, including Second Thomas Shoal. (SCMP)