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An incident between the Chinese and Philippine coast guards has occurred in the South China Sea.

This time two ships collided.

The boat with the blue deck belongs to the Philippine Coast Guard, the one with the green deck to the Chinese Coast Guard.

It is not the first incident of this kind, but it is the most violent.

The background is disputes over territory.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea for itself.

But other countries, including the Philippines, also claim parts of the sea area.

In the most recent incident, the Philippine ships were heading to the Second Thomas Shoal.

This is a reef about 200 kilometers west of the Philippine island of Palawan within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague declared some of the Chinese claims to be unlawful in 2016.

However, Beijing does not recognize the verdict and now accused the Philippines of illegally entering Chinese waters - and therefore carried out the dangerous maneuver.

According to a spokesman for the Philippine Coast Guard, there was “minor structural damage.”

The collision didn't stop there either.

The Chinese coast guard also fired water cannons at Filipino ships.

Four Filipino crew members are said to have been injured, mainly by broken glass.

Alberto Carlos, Philippine Vice Admiral:


"The ship vibrated and as you can see the glass shattered.

It was loud.

It's a good thing they didn't go ahead and retreat."

Chinese authorities said they carried out an inspection in accordance with the law, but the Philippine vessels ignored warnings.

The Philippine side, in turn, apparently tried to contact the Chinese coast guard beforehand.

Radio message:


"You are within the exclusive Philippine economic zone.

What is your intention?

“Over.”

The collision still occurred.

The Philippine authorities are now accusing China.

Jonathan Malaya, spokesman for the Philippine National Security Council:


"The Chinese Coast Guard has engaged in provocative, unilateral, illegal and unprofessional actions that are unbecoming of Coast Guard officers and have tarnished the Coast Guard uniform we so proudly wear.

We hold the Chinese Coast Guard responsible for their actions.”

There are frequent incidents between the two countries in the region.

The area is resource-rich, strategically and economically important.

The countries' patrolling coast guards regularly carry out dangerous maneuvers there - the latest collision is unlikely to help ease the situation.