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Early Monday morning, Chinese Coast Guard vessels rammed into two different ships belonging to the Philippines Coast Guard leaving huge holes in the ships. The incident happened near Sabina Shoal as the Philippines’ ships were on a resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal.
In the dead of the night Monday, between the hours of 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. local time, at least three collisions occurred between coast guard ships belonging to China and the Philippines. The first tore a hole 3.6 feet in diameter on the starboard side of a Philippine coast guard vessel, the Philippines said.
About 16 minutes later, a Chinese coast guard vessel rammed another Philippine coast guard ship twice, ripping a gap 2.5 feet long and 3 feet wide on the port side, according to the Philippines.
“We can fairly say that this is the biggest structural damage we have incurred as a result of the dangerous maneuvers carried out by the Chinese coast guard,” said Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippine coast guard.
Sabina Shoal is the latest flashpoint as China makes constant efforts to expand its control over the South China Sea. Here’s a helpful map. As you can see, this is a long way from mainland China.
Location of Sabina Shoal, for reference: pic.twitter.com/azZ6bik4Xh— Nine Dragons (@ninedragons1997) August 19, 2024
China immediately blamed the Philippines for the crashes but the Philippines says there were US reporters on board one of the ships who filmed the encounter and have proof China was the aggressor.
“The Philippine side is entirely responsible for the collision,” spokesperson Gan Yu said. “We warn the Philippine side to immediately stop its infringement and provocation, otherwise it will bear all the consequences arising from that.”
Jonathan Malaya, assistant director-general of the Philippine government’s National Security Council, accused the Chinese coast guard of falsely saying the Philippine coast guard ships had rammed its vessels.
Video and photographs, including ones taken by journalists from a U.
