Chinese and Philippine Vessels Collide in South China Sea

A Chinese Coast Guard ship collided with a Philippine supply boat early Sunday morning in the South China Sea. Two hours later, a Chinese maritime militia ship also bumped into a Philippine Coast Guard vessel. The two incidents mark China’s latest acts of aggression as it seeks to conquer the South China Sea.

The Philippine supply boat was on its way to the Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands that lies well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. The Philippines intentionally grounded a World War ii-era ship on the shoal in 1999 to assert its claim to the reef. China claims the Second Thomas Shoal and almost all of the South China Sea as its own. It says the presence of the decrepit ship is illegal.

The Philippine government views the latest aggression by China as a blatant violation of international law. China has no legal right or authority to conduct law enforcement operations in our territorial waters and in our exclusive economic zone.
—Gilberto Teodoro, Philippine defense secretary

U.S. warns China: The United States responded to the incidents on Monday, warning China it would defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack under a 1951 treaty. The Philippines and other countries neighboring the South China Sea have sought U.S. military support as such incidents multiply.

The Trumpet said: For years, the Trumpet has warned about China’s ambition to conquer the South China Sea. Prophecies in Isaiah 23 and Deuteronomy 28:52 show China will play an important role in a “mart of nations” that controls important sea gates. China will use this power to challenge U.S. dominance.

In 2016, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry explained how significant the South China Sea is to China’s ambitions:

Each year, $5.3 trillion of trade passes through the South China Sea. That is roughly one third of the world’s maritime commerce! Since Japan’s defeat in World War ii, America has protected this vital trade route and brought peace to this part of the world. …

Now that U.S. military presence in the area has been drastically reduced, China is claiming the entire South China Sea as its own!

Learn more: Read “China Is Steering the World Toward War.”