China, Philippines trade accusation over collisions in South China Sea

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) - China and the Philippines on Sunday accused each other of carrying out “provocative” actions after two collisions in a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

In a statement, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) said that two of its boats were bumped by Chinese vessels off a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, calling the incidents "dangerous, irresponsible and illegal actions."

A China Coast Guard vessel collided with a civilian boat, contracted by the Philippines Coast Guard to carry supplies for the troops stationed in the disputed shoal, it said.

Separately, a PCG ship's left side "was bumped by Chinese maritime militia vessel 00003 while it was lying to” northeast of the Second Thomas Shoal, the statement added.

It said the “provocative, irresponsible, and illegal action” of the Chinese coast guard ship violated "Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction, and in utter blatant disregard" of the UN Charter.

The Chinese Coast Guard, for its part, said in a statement that there was a "slight collision" between one of its ships and a Philippine boat while the coast guard was "lawfully" blocking the boat from transporting "illegal construction materials" to the warship.

It said the Philippine vessel had ignored repeated warnings, crossed the bow of the Chinese ship and “deliberately provoked trouble,” causing the collision.

“The Philippines' behavior seriously violates the international rules on avoiding collisions at sea and threatens the navigation safety of our vessels,” the statement added.

China refers to the Second Thomas Shoal as Ren’ai Jiao, which it says is part of the Nansha Islands in the disputed waters.

Meanwhile, the Philippines’ longtime ally, the US, condemned Beijing's "disruption of a legal resupply mission."