A Chinese coast guard ship came within three feet last week of ramming a Philippines coast guard vessel it was trying to block in the South China Sea.
The Chinese vessel cut across the bow of the Filipino vessel BRP Sindangan, ultimately passing within feet as the Filipino crew rapidly reversed the ship’s engine to avoid a catastrophe.
In the incident, which took place just 100 miles from the Philippines and nearly 900 miles away from the Chinese mainland, the crew of the Chinese vessel then proceeded to harass the Filipino crew, demanding over a megaphone that the vessel leave Chinese territory.
“In accordance with international and Philippine national laws, we are proceeding,” a Filipino crew member responded to the Chinese vessel.
Modern-Day Conquest
The incident near Second Thomas Shoal, which the Asian neighbors both claim and has been the scene of frequent confrontations, is the latest attempt by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to use its military to illegally expand its territory and steal natural resources across the South China Sea.In another incident in late September, a CCP vessel assaulted the crew of a Filipino ship with high-powered water cannons. Phones in the area were pinged with the message “Welcome to China,” although China doesn’t actually control any territory for hundreds of miles.
The CCP claims that nearly the entire South China Sea is its own, however, and is now using its navy and coast guard, the largest in the world, to forcibly dominate the region, effectively conquering the territory in spite of all international laws, rules, and norms.
China’s communist leadership condemned the Filipino mission, saying the vessel “intruded” into its territory.
The confrontations between China and the Philippines have occurred frequently near Mischief Reef, one of dozens of artificially constructed islands the CCP has created in recent years to illegally expand its territory and military reach throughout the South China Sea.
The reef now hosts a bevy of military facilities, including radar and communications facilities, runways and hangars for fighter jets, and surface-to-air missiles.
The long-term goal of the facilities, according to Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), is to enable the CCP to project military power beyond the First Island Chain, which stretches from Japan to Indonesia.
“Their effort within the First Island Chain, in the Spratly Island chain, is all about military dominance,” he said.
“These are airstrips, they are radars, they are surface-to-air missiles. There’s only one intention for that, and that is to push others out of that region.”
Mr. Wittman noted that he received a briefing last month about CCP activities against non-Chinese vessels in the region. Among them was an incident in which Chinese vessels interfered with a Philippines vessel as its crew attempted to do repairs on its own facility.
Likewise, when U.S. vessels pass through the South China Sea now, he said, Chinese vessels actively try to interfere with their navigation and prevent them from reaching their destination.
“When our vessels go into those areas, it’s not just other Chinese military vessels; it’s scores of other vessels that surround our vessels to try to impede our navigation through the area.”
