Chinese and Filipino Coast Guard ships collided in the South China Sea due to Beijing’s alleged provocative actions. This was stated by the head of the press service of the United States Department of State, Matthew Miller, according to TASS.
“The United States supports our ally, the Philippines, in light of China’s provocative actions against the lawful operations of the Philippines in the South China Sea on March 5,” he noted.
According to the State Department representative, Chinese ships made dangerous maneuvers and used water cannons against Filipino ships delivering supplies to the Philippine military on the Sierra Madre ship. He claims that “this led to a series of collisions, at least one Filipino ship was damaged, Filipino personnel were injured, and the Filipino crew was threatened.”
As Miller pointed out, Washington condemns China’s actions and calls on Beijing to abandon “dangerous and destabilizing steps.”
On March 5, the Philippine Coast Guard reported that its ship was damaged as a result of a collision with a Chinese Coast Guard ship in the South China Sea near the Zhen’ai Reef, with four people injured. In turn, the Chinese Maritime Police accused the Philippine ship of acting unprofessionally and dangerously, deliberately colliding with the Chinese vessel.
It was previously reported that US authorities are concerned about espionage through Chinese cranes in ports.
