Philippines says 'Chinese maritime militia' boat sideswiped fisheries vessel

MANILA (Reuters): The Philippines' Bureau of Fisheries said a "Chinese maritime militia" boat deliberately sideswiped one of its two vessels that were conducting a routine maritime patrol in the vicinity of Thitu island in the South China Sea last Friday.

The vessel had sustained dents in its starboard bow, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said in a statement issued late on Monday.

China and the Philippines have been at loggerheads over a succession of confrontations near disputed features in the South China, with Manila accusing China's coast guard of aggression and Beijing furious over what it calls repeated provocations and territorial incursions.

The Philippines has also accused China of maintaining a maritime militia to bolster its presence in the South China Sea. Beijing has maintained they are civilian ships.

Video shared by the bureau showed the Chinese boat with bow number 00108 approaching its vessel, BRP Datu Cabaylo, moving in close proximity before it collided with it.

"Despite the incident, the BFAR vessel maintained its position and was able to continue with its... mission," the fisheries bureau said.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including the Philippine-occupied Thitu, and rejects a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague that Beijing's expansive claims had no basis under international law. The case was brought to the court by the Philippines.

Last week's maritime run-in comes in the wake of a regional summit of Southeast Asian leaders where Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr called for negotiations on a code of conduct for the South China Sea to be fast tracked.

(Reporting by Neil Jerome Morales and Karen Lema; Editing by John Mair and Lincoln Feast.) - Reuters