The incident, in which Beijing claimed it had expelled a
number of vessels from the area, was the latest in a series of confrontations
between the two countries in the South China Sea.
Two Philippine coastguard vessels – the BRP Teresa Magbanua
and BRP Suluan – were in the area escorting the government owned fishing
carrier MV Pamamalakaya and 35 local fishing vessels as part of a government
initiative to support fishing communities.
The coastguard said its ships were also delivering fuel and
other supplies to the fishing boats at the time.
The Philippine coastguard said its ships were confronted by
the China Coast Guard (CCG)’s cutter 3104 and a PLA Navy Type 052D
guided-missile destroyer, the Guilin.
It added that the two vessels collided around 10.5 nautical
miles (19.5km) east of the Scarborough Shoal, a reef that has seen numerous
confrontations between the two sides.
China has not released footage of the incident, but the
Philippines released a video showing the accident.
The footage, apparently filmed on board the Suluan, showed
the Chinese coastguard ship heading towards the Philippine vessels and firing
its water cannons.
The camera then showed the destroyer at the rear of the
Philippine vessel, where it was hit by the Chinese coastguard ship, which
appeared to suffer extensive damage to its bow.
“The CCG 3104, which was chasing the BRP Suluan at high
speed, performed a risky manoeuvre from the [Philippine] vessel’s starboard
quarter, leading to the impact with the PLA Navy warship,” the Philippine
coastguard said.
It also credited the crew’s “seamanship skills” for avoiding
a direct hit from the water cannons.
China’s official statements have so far focused on its
efforts to expel Philippine vessels from the waters around the Scarborough
Shoal.
Gan Yu, a Chinese coastguard spokesman, said the Philippine
ships had “disregarded repeated dissuasion and warnings from China” and
“forcibly intruded” into the area.
Gan added the Chinese ships had taken “professional,
standardized, legitimate and legal” methods to drive away the vessels.
It was unclear if anyone was hurt in the collision or the
exact extent of the damage to either Chinese ship.
Ding Duo, an associate research fellow at the National
Institute for South China Sea Studies, said that the “relatively small and
fast” Philippine vessel had made a “risky” manoeuvre to cross directly in front
of the destroyer.
“The Chinese coastguard vessel was pursuing from behind,
could not stop in time, and did not give up the chase. The distance involved
was actually normal, but the Philippine side chose a different tactic – one
with a degree of recklessness and considerable danger,” he said.
The China Coast Guard and PLA Navy both carry out regular
patrols in the South China Sea as part of Beijing’s efforts to assert its
sovereignty.
But the accident has raised questions about how well they
coordinate their operations in the disputed waters.
Other navies have suffered from similar accidents in the
past, including the US Navy, which was involved in three separate collisions –
two of them fatal – with commercial ships in the space of just four months in
2017.
Seven sailors died when the USS Fitzgerald collided with a
Philippine cargo ship off the coast of Japan in June of that year. A further 10
died when the USS John McCain and an oil tanker crashed into each other two
months later in waters east of Singapore.
