The latest dangerous incident involving Chinese ships in the South China Sea took place on Monday, when two Chinese ships collided while trying to chase a Philippine patrol boat away from the disputed Scarborough Shoal.
A video released by Philippine officials, taken from the stern of the Filipino patrol boat BRP Suluan, showed a Chinese Coast Guard vessel aggressively and dangerously firing a water cannon while pursuing the smaller Filipino craft at high speed.
The Chinese Coast Guard vessel then slammed into an even bigger People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ship that was maneuvering behind the Suluan:
Both of the Chinese ships were visibly damaged in the collision. The Filipino patrol boat, having observed Chinese personnel working on the deck of the Coast Guard ship before the collision, circled around to offer assistance, but the Chinese did not respond.
The Philippine Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday the actions of the Chinese ships “not only posed a grave danger to Philippine personnel and vessels, but also resulted in the unfortunate collision between the two Chinese vessels.”
“Yesterday’s incident demonstrates the importance of adhering to international maritime rules,” said the Philippine Foreign Ministry.
Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., chairman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said the PLAN ship was clearly attempting to ram the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ship during the incident.
Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad described it as a “pincer move,” in which the PCG ship was supposed to be trapped in the middle.
“It’s a good thing our Coast Guard was able to avoid the PLA Navy and the Chinese Coast Guard. The two Chinese vessels collided,” Brawner said.
Brawner said this was the first documented instance of the PLAN attempting such a dangerous maneuver against PCG ships, but the Chinese Coast Guard has done so in the past. He called the escalation “a symbol of China’s aggressiveness,” noting that a 2012 deconfliction agreement required both China and the Philippines to keep their warships away from the Scarborough Shoal.
“We followed the agreement. They did not follow. So, it’s really a violation of the agreement that we had in 2012. We keep the moral high ground. That’s the order of our President. And we do not do aggressive tactics,” he said.
“They claim that we are causing trouble in the West Philippine Sea, but we clearly saw yesterday the opposite, because they continue to claim Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal as their own territory,” he said, using the Filipino name for the shoal.
“We have contingencies. If our Coast Guard is attacked by the PLA Navy, we have actions to do. We follow the rules of engagement. And according to the rules of engagement, we have the right to defend ourselves,” he added.
Both Brawner and Trinidad stressed that Philippine forces do not wish to escalate confrontations around the shoal, but eventually they could be forced to defend themselves. Asked if this could trigger mutual defense treaties with the United States, Brawner said his government might ask for “joint sails” with allied navies around the shoal, to warn Beijing against dangerous and provocative actions. The Philippine and Indian navies recently conducted a joint sail in the South China Sea.
The Scarborough Shoal is only 125 nautical miles from the main Philippine island of Luzon, and has long been treasured as a fishing ground by Filipino fishermen, but China effectively seized control of the feature by force in 2012. China’s expansive claims to the South China Sea have been rejected by international tribunals, so Beijing simply occupied the contested waters with militarized vessels and began chasing the Filipinos away.
The PCG patrol boat Suluan was in the area on Monday to deliver fuel and supplies to Filipino fishermen. The Philippine Navy also has warships in the area, but they maintain a circumspect distance from the Scarborough Shoal to honor the 2012 deconfliction agreement.
Brawner suggested the Philippine Navy might feel obliged to move its ships closer to the shoal, to ensure the safety of fishermen and supply vessels, while Trinidad suggested China’s clumsy harassment efforts were not enough of a threat to justify action from the Navy, given how the Suluan was able to evade both Chinese Coast Guard and PLAN vessels.
“The Chief of Staff has been very clear that in all operations in the West Philippine Sea to include Bajo De Masinloc, the use of force for mission accomplishment is not authorized without infringing on the universal right of self-defense, defense of one’s unit or defense of others,” Trinidad said.
China blandly insisted its ships acted lawfully and blamed the Philippines for heightened tensions around the Scarborough Shoal. Chinese Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu carefully avoided mentioning the embarrassing collision between Chinese ships on Monday.
“The Philippines sent multiple coast guard and government vessels, under the pretext of delivering supplies to fishing boats, to forcibly intrude into waters near China’s Huangyan Dao, despite repeated dissuasion and warnings from the Chinese side,” Yu claimed, using China’s name for the Scarborough Shoal.
“Huangyan Island is an inherent part of China’s territory. The China Coast Guard will continue to carry out rights-protection law enforcement activities in the waters of Huangyan Dao in accordance with the law, and will resolutely safeguard China’s national territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” he insisted.
China’s state-run Global Times on Monday harangued Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for demanding a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea that would preclude China’s aggressive activities, and for insisting Manila stands ready to defend its “territorial integrity and sovereignty” in the region.
“By openly promoting COC consultations, Marcos aims to achieve several objectives: to project an ostensible commitment to peace and stability in the South China Sea while masking and legitimizing Manila’s maritime provocations; to rally ASEAN members for support during its chairmanship; and to use the process as cover to cement the illegal ‘2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea,’” claimed Ding Duo, director of research for the National institute for South China Sea Studies.
Of course, the “illegal arbitral award” Ding sneered at was the entirely legal international tribunal judgment the Philippines won against China at the Hague in 2016. The Global Times cited Monday’s incident as an example of the Marcos government attempting to “forcibly intrude” into waters claimed by Beijing.
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