Territorial disputes|The disputed reef belongs to the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
Chinese and a Philippine ship collided near a disputed reef in the South China Sea, China’s coast guard said Monday. The news agencies AFP and Reuters report on the matter.
China claims that the Philippine supply ship approached the Chinese ship recklessly and was in Chinese waters without permission. The reef belonging to the Spratly Islands is claimed by China, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. The name of the reef in Mandarin is Renai Jiao ja in Tagalog, Buhanginan ng Ayungin.
China’s coast guard made no mention of any possible damage to the ships or their crews.
China and the Philippines have for months accused each other of dangerous shipping near the reef. The Philippines conducts supply transports to the atoll because its soldiers are stationed on an old landing craft that was deliberately run aground in the 1990s to bolster Philippine territorial claims. The ship was completed in 1944 for use by the US Navy.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own, although most of the sea is much closer to the coasts of other countries than mainland China.
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