From Asia Times, October 23:
Ships collide over disputed shoal as perceptions grow Beijing may launch a swift hard strike on Manila’s newfound assertiveness
The Philippines and China are on a literal collision course at sea after their boats collided on October 22 near the contested Second Thomas Shoal in the bubbling South China Sea. Both sides blamed the other for the incident as diplomatic tempers flared in a maritime zone with high geopolitical stakes.
A China Coast Guard vessel collided with a Philippines-contracted resupply boat at about 6:00 am on Sunday approximately 25 kilometers east-northeast of the BRP Sierra Madre grounded vessel outpost on the Second Thomas Shoal, a Philippine task force said in a statement. It claimed China’s “provocative, irresponsible and illegal action” imperiled the Filipino crew.
China’s foreign ministry fired back in a statement saying the two Philippine supply boats and two coast guard ships entered disputed waters and were transporting “illegal building materials” to warships.
The collisions took place after the Philippine boats ignored warnings and approached Chinese vessels in an unsafe manner, China’s statement claimed. “The responsibility lies entirely with the Philippine side,” which seriously violated the international maritime collision-avoidance rules, it said.
Beijing said “[o]ur operations were professional, standardized, legitimate and legal” and that its coast guard vessel “intercepted the trespassing Philippine ship in accordance with the law even though multiple warnings were ineffective.” The statement did not say which law it referred to....
....MUCH MORE
In April 2019 we saw "Philippines President Duterte Threatened Beijing with Military Action":
When the Chinese stopped laughing they reflected and gave thanks it wasn't Vietnam making the threat....He outlived all his adversaries.
***...The Vietnam line is in reference to the fact that General Võ Nguyên Giáp, possibly the greatest general of the 20th century, defeated in turn, the French empire, the U.S.A. Cambodia and China in 1954, 1975, 1978 and 1979 respectively.
That last conflict was the result of China's invasion of Vietnam in an attempt to force Vietnam out of Cambodia which Vietnam had invaded in 1978, putting Pol Pot and the Kmer Rouge génocidaires out of business. It didn't work, Vietnam stayed in Cambodia until 1989.
The General died in 2013 age 102.
