Due to two incidents involving Philippine and Chinese warships in the disputed South China Sea, Manila called Beijing’s ambassador on Monday, according to a foreign ministry official.
Regarding the events that occurred on Sunday near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, the two nations have traded accusations, with both releasing footage to bolster their positions.
In an effort to assert Manila’s territorial claims, the two collisions occurred during a normal Philippine resupply operation to Filipino troops stationed on a navy vessel grounded on the shoal.
“We’re making full use of diplomatic processes… available to us. That includes summoning the Chinese ambassador (Huang Xilian), which we did this morning,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Teresita Daza told reporters.
Daza claimed that during the meeting at the foreign ministry, his deputy head of mission represented the ambassador, who was unable to attend.
Xilian was last called to the foreign ministry in August following the Philippine warships’ deployment of water cannon by the China Coast Guard in the vicinity of Second Thomas Shoal.
“Ayungin Shoal is part of our exclusive economic zone and continental shelf and we have sovereign rights and jurisdiction over it,” Daza said, using the Philippine name for the shoal.
“China, as a major power, bears a heavier responsibility of contributing to peace and stability in the region,” she said.
The Philippines has accused a China Coast Guard vessel of “reckless manoeuvres” that led to a collision with a wooden boat contracted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines to deliver provisions to troops on the BRP Sierra Madre.
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 Sunday, citing the foreign ministry.
In another incident, a Philippine coastguard vessel escorting the 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.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually, and has ignored an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.The western Philippine island of Palawan is around 200 kilometers (124 miles) away from Second Thomas Shoal, whereas Hainan island, China’s closest significant landmass, is almost 1,000 kilometers away.
Officials and academics have cautioned against collisions as China asserts its claims to authority over the waterways with ever-greater confidence.
In an effort to halt China’s maritime advances, the Philippine Navy purposefully grounded the BRP Sierra Madre, built during World War II, on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999.
For their survival, the soldiers stationed on the collapsing ship rely on frequent supply supplies.
In the Spratly Islands, there are outposts of the Philippines on nine reefs and islands, including Second Thomas Shoal.
