The incident occurred early Monday morning near the disputed Sabina Reef in the South China Sea.

In a statement, the China Coast Guard (CCG) claimed the “intentional” collision was due to the “unprofessional and dangerous” conduct of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

The CCG released two videos of the piling incident on Monday near the area called Xianbin Jiao by Beijing, the name of the Sabina Reef.

Two PCG vessels were damaged in the collision. According to media reports, no Filipino sailors were injured.

In response to China’s statements, Malaya criticized the CCG in a statement but did not condemn Beijing for the incident.

Malaya called on China to “exercise restraint and comply with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and other relevant international laws to prevent further escalations and ensure the safety of all vessels operating in the region.”

The latest escalation of the conflict came eleven days after a Chinese Air Force aircraft fired a series of flares into the path of a Philippine aircraft.

In another incident two months ago, a Philippine marine lost his thumb after the Chinese navy rammed a Philippine ship. Chinese sailors boarded several Philippine vessels and vandalized them while armed with spears and long knives. They captured firearms in the incident.

The Malaya NTF-WPS statement also said two Philippine Coast Guard vessels were damaged in three collisions near Escoda Reef after being rammed by Chinese Coast Guard vessels.

The Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times, however, claimed that the incidents were provoked by Philippine ships. In one of these incidents, the BRP Bagacay is said to have rammed the Chinese ship CCGV 21551 at 3:24 a.m. despite repeated warnings.

However, Malaya rejected the Chinese coast guard’s version, saying the second collision occurred at 3:40 a.m. southeast of Escoda Reef Bank when BRP Bagacay MRRV-4410 “was rammed twice on both the port and starboard sides of CCGV 21551, resulting in minor structural damage.”

02:40

Beijing and Manila complain of “ramming” in trade dispute after recent incident with coast guard in the South China Sea

Beijing and Manila complain of “ramming” in trade dispute after recent incident with coast guard in the South China Sea

Nearly 90 percent of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone falls within what China claims to be its maritime territory within the so-called nine-dash line. An arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled in 2016 that China’s claim had no legal basis under the Unclos Convention on the Law of the Sea, a ruling that Beijing did not recognize.

Retired Philippine Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio told This Week in Asia on Monday that the Philippines could file a lawsuit before an Unclos tribunal and seek compensation for the latest incident.

Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines on August 16 that Manila was in no hurry to demand compensation. The government was “still examining” how much damages it could demand from China, he said.

Manalo also said the preliminary agreement reached during the latest round of bilateral talks with China only covers the Philippines’ resupply missions to Ayungin Reef – Manila’s name for the Second Thomas Reef – and excludes other disputed areas in the South China Sea.

While he declined to describe the situation in the South China Sea as a “flashpoint,” he said it was a challenge to deal with simmering tensions.

Maritime security analyst Ray Powell told This Week in Asia that China tried to block the Philippine ships because it believed they were heading to Sabina Reef, which would give it “the pretext for its aggression” there.

Powell, a retired US Air Force colonel who heads Stanford University’s Sea Light project, told This Week in Asia: “For the most part, Beijing’s propaganda over the past week has signalled its intention to aggressively blockade Sabina Reef. For several months, it has drawn parallels between the BRP Teresa Magbanua, the Philippine Coast Guard ship anchored there, and the grounded BRP Sierra Madre on Second Thomas Reef.”

China has thus moved the front lines of the maritime dispute to within 75 nautical miles of the Philippine coast, Powell said.

“The Philippines is once again challenged to consider whether now is the time to turn to its US ally for more direct support,” he added.

On Monday, US envoy in Manila MaryKay Carlson posted on “X” that Washington stood in solidarity with Manila and condemned the incident. “We are committed to supporting the rights of our #FriendsPartnersAllies under international law.”

The opposition Akbayan Party called China a “tyrant” in a statement and rejected Beijing’s “absurd” claim that Filipino sailors were responsible for the incident.

The United States had already offered its help after the June 17 incident, but the Philippine military declined.

Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, a research fellow at the Manila-based Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress think tank, told This Week in Asia that China is likely to be concerned about Philippine vessels being in the Sabina Reef area, similar to Beijing’s presence in Scarborough Reef. On the other hand, the Philippines is concerned that China might build structures in Sabina Reef, just as Beijing has previously done at Mischief Reef, Pitlo said.

Pitlo, currently a visiting lecturer at Taiwan’s diplomacy department at National Chengchi University, said Sabina Reef is a strategic point for Manila’s resupply missions to Second Thomas Reef.

“Chinese control of Sabina could further isolate the Ayungin Reef (Second Thomas Shoal) and bring Beijing closer to Palawan’s coast. The reported presence of damaged or dead coral in Sabina raises fears that China could once again present the unoccupied reef with a fait accompli.”