China says protecting 'rights' after Philippine ship collision

BEIJING — Beijing insisted on Monday it was defending its «rights» in the South China Sea, after the Philippines released footage appearing to show a Chinese coast guard vessel ramming one of its ships during an at-sea confrontation.

Both countries accused each other on Saturday of deliberately ramming their coast guard ships near a flashpoint shoal in the South China Sea, the latest in a spate of similar incidents in recent weeks.

The incident took place off the disputed Sabina Shoal, located 140 kilometers (86 miles) west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 kilometers from Hainan island, the nearest major Chinese landmass.

Footage released by the Philippine coast guard of the incident appeared to show the Chinese vessel coming up from behind the ship and ramming it.

Another clip also showed what appeared to be a deliberate collision.

Asked about the footage on Monday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning reiterated Beijing's claim the Philippines had «deliberately rammed» the Chinese vessel.

«The root cause of the current situation, or the current escalation of the situation, is that the Philippines sent coast guard ships to linger in the lagoon of the Xianbin Reef for a long time and attempt to permanently occupy it,» Mao said, using the Chinese name for the shoal.

«China's actions on Xianbin Reef are rights protection actions to safeguard China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, which is legal and above-board,» she added.

Beijing claims almost all of the economically vital South China Sea despite competing claims from other countries and an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

Saturday's collision was the fifth incident of Chinese maritime harassment in August, Philippine coast guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said.