We again note conduct in the South China Sea that has been reported many times.
But as long as Chinese ships keep threatening Philippine vessels within Philippine waters, almost ramming those vessels, ramming them, trying to spray them with water cannons, spraying them with water cannons, maybe slicing somebody’s thumb off, and endangering the lives of fisherman and sailors, everyone should know that this is still happening (“Philippines accuses China of harassing, sideswiping its fisheries vessels,” SeafoodSource, October 21, 2024).
The Philippines government has accused a “Chinese maritime militia” vessel of deliberately sideswiping one of its fisheries vessels in the contested South China Sea….
“These dangerous maneuvers caused the sideswiping and collision with the BFAR vessel, which sustained minor dents in its starboard bow,” the Philippines government said in a statement. [The BFAR is the country’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.]
The Filipino vessel was able to continue its mission after the incident and was able to dock safely at the Pag-asa Sheltered Port on Pag-asa Island in the South China Sea.
The Filipino government alleges another incident occurred 8 October, when three Chinese coast guard vessels and a navy vessel approached two BFAR vessels on a resupply mission in the South China Sea. BFAR claims the Chinese vessels conducted dangerous maneuvers to impede the mission and fired water cannons at the Philippines vessels, though the cannons did not reach their targets.
China’s purpose, again, at least for now, seems to be mainly harassment, not to actually prevent the Philippine vessels from performing their tasks and not to destroy any boat or ship or kill any people. According to the PRC’s calculus, it is better, for now, to remain in the gray zone, the anteroom to war.
But China has done and will try to do more in the South China Sea than bump into or spray its enemies. In May 2024, the Philippine Coast Guard sent a ship to Sabina Shoal to foil what it said was China’s attempt to build an artificial island.
As Reuters noted at the time, “China claims almost all the South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, and has carried out extensive land reclamation on some islands, building military facilities….”
