A China Coast Guard vessel came within 1 meter (3 feet) of colliding with a Philippine Coast Guard ship attempting to block it in the South China Sea earlier this week, Manila said, in the latest incident in the disputed waterway.
The close call came Wednesday near Second Thomas Shoal, about 200 kilometers off the Philippine coast, as Manila was carrying out a resupply mission to an intentionally grounded World War II-era vessel that has served as its outpost in the disputed area since 1999.
Both Manila and Beijing lay claim to the area, and the incident was the latest in a series of interactions between the two sides that have intensified fears that their territorial disputes in the South China Sea could spark a larger crisis.
In a statement Friday, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said that a China Coast Guard vessel had performed a “dangerous maneuver” near the Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Sindangan, coming within a meter of the ship.
In a video posted to the social media site X, the Chinese vessel was seen pulling in front of the Philippine ship as it attempted to resupply troops on the Second Thomas Shoal outpost.
Tarriela said that four China Coast Guard vessels were assisted by five Chinese maritime militia ships in attempting to block the resupply mission, which was ultimately successful. During the attempts to block the Philippine vessels, Tarriela claimed that a total of eight “dangerous maneuvers” had been carried out by the Chinese ships.
He also said that a Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy ship with the bow number 630 had approached the Philippine Coast Guard ship “within a distance of only 0.5 nautical miles for the first time.” The Chinese navy ship’s hull number corresponds to the Abe corvette, which has been previously spotted operating in the area. A Chinese navy Y-8Q anti-submarine aircraft was also observed conducting surveillance in the area, Tarriela added.
https://x.com/jaytaryela/status/1710258304822448315?s=20
On Friday, Manila strongly condemned the Chinese ship’s maneuvers near Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the scene of frequent confrontations between the two sides, prompting fears of an incident erupting into full-blown conflict.
The United States has emphasized that the 1951 U.S.-Philippines mutual defense treaty applies to “armed attacks on either nation's armed forces or public vessels anywhere in the South China Sea.”
The latest moves followed reports of "provocative acts" by Beijing in the South China Sea, including Chinese vessels venturing dangerously close and firing water cannons at Philippine government ships in recent months. In February, Manila alleged that a China Coast Guard ship had used a "military-grade laser" against their Philippine counterparts, temporarily blinding its crew on the bridge.
Under its so-called nine-dash line, Beijing claims some 90% of the South China Sea — a position that flies in the face of a July 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidating most of those claims.
Beijing does not recognize the ruling, calling it “a piece of waste paper.”
China has conducted a massive land-reclamation project to essentially build and militarize a number of islands in the waters, despite protests from other claimants, as well as the United States and Japan. Washington and Tokyo fear that the Chinese-held outposts, some of which boast military-grade airfields and advanced weaponry, could be used to restrict free movement in an area that includes vital sea lanes.
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