China claimed that it used “lawful control measures” when a China Coast Guard (CCG) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels bumped near the disputed Escoda (Sabina) Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sunday, Aug. 25.
In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Manila quoted the CCG saying that the Philippine vessel “intruded into the adjacent waters of Xianbin Jiao of China's Nansha Qundao and kept sailing toward a CCG ship in a dangerous way,” using the Chinese names for Escoda Shoal and the Spratly Islands.
“The intrusion of the vessel was unpermitted by the Chinese government and the CCG has taken lawful control measures against it,” it added.
Citing CCG spokesman Gan Yu, the embassy insisted in an English-translated version of the statement that Philippine vessel 3002 “illegally entered” the waters near the reef “without the permission of the Chinese government, and the Chinese coast guard took control measures against the Philippine vessels.”
Videos posted on social media showed CCG ship 21551 and PCG ship 3002 bumping into each other, but the embassy said that the Philippine vessel “deliberately rammed” the CCG vessel “in an unprofessional and dangerous manner” after ignoring China’s “stern warning.”
The responsibility lies entirely with the Philippines. We warn the Philippine side to stop the infringement and provocation immediately, otherwise the Philippines will bear all the consequences,” the embassy stated.
The incident happened less than a week after China launched flares from the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal on Aug. 19 and again from the Zamora (Subi) Reef on Aug. 22 targeting the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Cessna 208B Grand Caravan conducting Maritime Domain Awareness Flight.
Also on Aug. 19, CCG vessels “rammed and damaged” two PCG vessels near the waters of Escoda Shoal, which sits 75 nautical miles or about 140 kilometers off Palawan and is deep within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile EEZ.
Along with other resource-rich features of the South China Sea, Beijing stakes claim on the Escoda Shoal and nearly the entire region based on its archaic nine-dash, now 10-dash, line map.
It has also repeatedly rejected the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling that invalidated the nine-dash line.