Chinese navy boats smash into each other whilst chasing Philippine patrol boat

WorldPolitics
12 Aug 2025 • 1:21 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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Two Chinese navy boats have smashed into each other while chasing a Philippines-flagged patrol boat.

Footage filmed by the Philippine Coast Guard on Monday (11 August) shows a Beijing warship accidentally crashing into the smaller coast guard vessel with a loud bang.

The Philippines said that their boat was distributing aid to fishermen in Scarborough Shoal, a contested reef in the South China Sea, when the Chinese coast guard started pursuing them at “high speed”.

Commodore Jay Tarriela said that the Chinese smaller ship then performed a “risky manoeuvre” which led to “substantial damage” to the warship’s upper deck, leaving it “unseaworthy”.

China said that a confrontation took place but did not specifically mention the collision.

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