- Carpenter bomb stuns Guardians as Tigers level series
- Harris, Trump and Biden mark Oct. 7 attacks as US election looms
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- US judge orders Google to open Android to rival app stores
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights 'sacred' multi-front war
- Nobel scientist uncovered tiny genetic switches with big potential
- Grammy-winning Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney, dies at 91
- UN biodiversity summit in Colombia aims to turn words into action
- Georgia Supreme Court reinstates six-week abortion ban
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- On attacks anniversary, Israel fights multi-front war
- Mexican mayor murdered days after taking office
- Intensifying to Category 5, Hurricane Milton targets Florida
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Biden, Harris mark Oct. 7 with call for Mideast peace
- Dupont set for Toulouse return after post-Olympic holiday
- French rugby bosses tighten discipline after nightmare Argentina tour
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Visitors to get rare view of Rome's Trevi Fountain
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Man City and Premier League both claim victory in legal case
- Deschamps delight as 'light back on' for Pogba after doping ban
- Biden, Harris urge Mideast peace on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Neeskens, tough midfielder in Cruyff's Ajax and Dutch teams
- UN warns world's water cycle becoming ever more erratic
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- Ex-Dutch football star Johan Neeskens dies
- Man Utd battling to improve fortunes, says Evans
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Masood, Abdullah centuries lift Pakistan to 328-4 in first England Test
- Hurricane Milton strengthens fast, threatens Mexico, Florida
- Tunisia's President Saied set for landslide election win
- Barca hoping to return to Camp Nou 'by end of year'
- Trump to open second golf course at Scotland resort in summer 2025
- Super-sub Jhon Duran rewarded with new Aston Villa deal
- US duo win Nobel for gene regulation breakthrough
- Masood hits first ton for four years to power Pakistan to 233-1
- Fritz wins delayed match to reach Shanghai Masters third round
- Naomi Osaka pulls out of Japan Open with back injury
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Artist Marina Abramovic hopes first China show offers tech respite
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- Pakistan 122-1 at lunch in first England Test
- Kazakhs approve plan for first nuclear power plant
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- 'Second family': tennis stars hunt winning formula with new coaches
- Philippines, South Korea agree to deepen maritime cooperation
- Mexico mayor murdered days after taking office
- Sardinia's sheep farmers battle bluetongue as climate warms
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ |
China, Philippines trade blame in latest South China Sea clash
China and the Philippines on Saturday accused each other of deliberately ramming their coast guard ships near a flashpoint shoal in the South China Sea, the latest in a spate of similar incidents in recent weeks.
Beijing claims almost all of the economically vital body of water despite competing claims from other countries and an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
A Chinese coast guard spokesperson said Saturday's incident took place off the disputed Sabina Shoal, which has emerged as a new hotspot in the long-running maritime confrontations between the two countries.
Sabina Shoal is located 140 kilometres (86 miles) west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 kilometres from Hainan island, the nearest major Chinese landmass.
Shortly after noon (0400 GMT), a Philippine ship "deliberately collided with" a Chinese vessel near the shoal, known in Chinese as Xianbin, China Coast Guard spokesperson Liu Dejun said, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
"China exercises indisputable sovereignty" in this zone, Liu said, condemning the "unprofessional and dangerous" conduct of the Philippine vessel.
However, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said it was the China Coast Guard vessel 5205 that "directly and intentionally rammed" the Philippines' ship, BRP Teresa Magbanua.
The vessel has been anchored inside Sabina Shoal since April to assert Manila's claim over the area.
Tarriela said the BRP Teresa Magbanua was rammed three times -- hitting the port bow, starboard quarter and port beam.
No crew members were injured during the incident but the ship's bridge wing and freeboard were damaged. A hole was also found.
"It is important for us to take note that this ramming happened despite... our unprovoked action and presence in Escoda Shoal," Tarriela told reporters, using the Filipino name for Sabina Shoal.
The United States, a strong ally of Manila that had raised the South China Sea in high-level bilateral talks this week in Beijing, slammed China for "dangerous and escalatory" actions near Sabina Shoal.
Washington called on China to "comport its claims and actions with international law and to desist from dangerous and destabilising conduct", State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
- 'Serious concern' -
The collision was the fifth incident of Chinese maritime harassment this month, Tarriela said.
National Maritime Council Spokesperson Alexander Lopez said a report about the latest clash would be sent to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs for review and appropriate action.
"We take this with serious concern," Lopez told a news conference.
"We are there on a legal basis because that is ours, we don't need to ask for permission in our own territory. Let us be very clear about it," he said.
Philippine and Chinese vessels have collided near Sabina Shoal at least twice this month, and analysts say Beijing is trying to move deeper into Manila's exclusive economic zone and normalise Chinese control of the area.
The discovery this year of piles of crushed coral at the shoal ignited suspicion in Manila that Beijing was planning to build another permanent base there, which would be its closest outpost to the Philippine archipelago.
Recent clashes between Philippine and Chinese vessels have also taken place around Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.
A Filipino sailor lost a thumb in a clash there in June when Chinese coast guard members wielding knives, sticks and an axe foiled a Philippine Navy attempt to resupply a small garrison.
Sabina Shoal is also the rendezvous point for Philippine resupply missions to the garrison on Second Thomas Shoal.
The repeated confrontations prompted Manila to brand Beijing the "biggest disruptor" to peace in Southeast Asia at a defence conference this month.
G.Stevens--AMWN