China and the Philippines have both made claims to a number of islands and sea zones; as a result, there have been more ship incidents, skirmishes, and accusations of armed threats, which have escalated their disagreement over time.
However, tensions escalated last week when vessels from Beijing and Manila collided close to the Sabina Shoal, with both sides accusing the other of intentionally ramming them.
Situated approximately 75 nautical miles from the west coast of the Philippines and 630 nautical miles from China, the shoal is known by the Philippines as Escoda Shoal and by China as Xianbin Jiao.
The disputed Spratly Islands, an oil and gas-rich region that both China and the Philippines have long claimed, saw many Chinese and Philippine vessels clash on August 19 close to a shoal.
The Philippine vessel “deliberately collided” with the Chinese coast guard, according to the Chinese coast guard, while the Philippines said the Chinese warships were engaging in “aggressive maneuvers.”.
On Sunday, there were more crashes, and this time, both sides were blaming one another. The EU and a number of other nations, including the UK, Japan, Australia, and South Korea, have denounced China’s conduct.
