SEOUL, South Korea – Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels collided multiple times in pre-dawn clashes off disputed shoals in the tense South China Sea Monday.
As is common in these clashes, both sides swiftly blamed the other.
Two Philippine coast guard vessels “ignored repeated dissuasion and warnings” in order to “illegally invade the waters adjacent to … China’s Nansha Island” China’s Coast Guard said in a statement.
That is a reference to a feature in the disputed Spratly Islands, which lie 730 miles south of China’s southern coast and 206 miles west of the Philippines.
The Philippine vessel “deliberately collided” with a Chinese vessel, an action which “seriously violated China’s territorial sovereignty,” over islands of which it has “indisputable sovereignty,” the statement read.
Philippine coast guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela posted a statement on the X platform offering a different viewpoint.
The Chinese vessels conducted “unlawful and aggressive (sic) maneuvers” which “resulted in collisions, causing structural damage” to both Manila’s vessels.
One was rammed once by a Chinese vessel; one was rammed twice, the statement continued.
The statement on X was accompanied by images that showed significant hull damage to two Philippine ships.
No casualties were reported by either side.
Given the Manila-Washington mutual defense treaty, pundits and media fret that such clashes could escalate to war: On Aug 18, NBC ran a story headlined, “Why the US could get drawn into a conflict in the South China Sea.”
Deadly island battles indeed flared up between China and Vietnam in the South China Sea in 1988. Since then, however, all sides have kept the conflict below the kinetic threshold.
The main actors in the current confrontation between the Philippines and China are coast guards, rather than navies. Chinese tactics include rammings and water cannoning by coast guard ships, flare drops by aircraft, and area domination by maritime militia or centrally controlled fishing fleets.
At stake are territorial claims, rich fishing grounds and underwater energy reserves.
States including Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan contest parts of South China Sea, but the most active players are China, the Philippines and Vietnam. The three have emplaced outposts on disputed features, though the scale differs.
The bases range from the rusting hulk of a Philippine vessel grounded on a reef to Vietnamese fortified islets to massive air-sea-land bases constructed on artificial islands that have been terraformed by China.
While Beijing holds the upper hand in terms of assets and capabilities, it struggles to make a compelling diplomatic or legal case to buttress its claims to ownership of islands and reefs that lie hundreds of miles from its southern shores.
Manila has wide support, notably winning an international arbitration in the Hague in 2016. It is also conducting joint military drills with partners including the U.S., Japan and Australia.
And on Aug. 9, Vietnam conducted its first-ever joint coast guard exercise with the Philippines.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.