A new China-Philippines territory in the South China Sea

A new development has emerged in the ongoing maritime dispute between China and the Philippines, where both countries are clashing elsewhere in the South China Sea.

Both China and the Philippines have staked claims to various islands and territories in the Sea – their dispute has been escalating over the years due to numerous ship collisions, skirmishes, and alleged armed threats.

But last week, things took a turn for the worse when ships from Beijing and Manila collided near the Sabina Shoal – both accusing the other of deliberately screwing it up.

The shoal, called Xianbin Jiao by China and Escoda Shoal by the Philippines, is located 75 kilometers from the west coast of the Philippines and 630 nautical miles from China.

On August 19, several Chinese and Philippine ships collided near a lake in the disputed Spratly Islands – an area rich in oil and gas, which both countries have claimed for years.

China’s coast guard said the Philippine ship “deliberately collided” with them, while the Philippines said the Chinese ships were conducting “trickery”.

The second round of clashes took place on Sunday, with both sides again accusing each other. Many other countries including the UK, Japan, Australia and South Korea, as well as the EU, have condemned China’s actions.

On Monday, the Philippines said 40 Chinese ships had blocked two of its boats from carrying out a “humanitarian mission” to recover the Teresa Magbuana, a Philippine coast guard ship that had been deployed a few months earlier.

The Philippines suspects that China is trying to reclaim land from Sabina Shoal. It pointed to mounds of underwater coral on Sabina’s sandbars, which the coast guard had recorded, saying Beijing was using the material to expand the boat. Chinese media called the allegations “baseless”.

Authorities sent Teresa Magbuana to Sabina in April as part of a long-term presence they plan to maintain in the area. Manila sees it as key to their efforts to explore the Spratlys for oil and gas.

Meanwhile China sees the presence of the Teresa Magbuana as evidence of the Philippines’ intentions to seize the boat.

The latest comment from the Chinese news agency Xinhua pointed to a decrepit World War II-era ship that the Philippines grounded in 1999 on the second Thomas Shoal, known in Chinese as the Ren’ai Jiao.

A number of soldiers are still stationed there and need food regularly. For years, the ship has been a source of constant conflict between the two countries, with China often trying to block the redeployment of equipment from the ship.

“25 years later, it’s still there. Obviously, the Philippines is trying to repeat this situation in Xianbin Jiao,” the analyst said.

“China will not be fooled by the Philippines again.”

There has been a series of deadly incidents in recent months as both sides seek to enforce their claims to disputed reefs, including Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Shoal.

The conflict often results in a cat-and-mouse game that the boats engage in, as they try to repel the other side.

China is increasingly firing water cannons and high-powered lasers at Philippine ships, and the Filipinos have also accused the Chinese of boarding their boats, leading to clashes, as well as seizing and scuttling their ships.

One of the latest allegations from Manila is that Chinese workers are patrolling the coast armed with knives, spears and swords they boarded one of their warships and threatened their soldiers.

“We are struggling with a powerful enemy,” Philippine defense chief Gilberto Teodoro said on Tuesday, while urging the international community to issue a “strong complaint against China”.

So far there have been no casualties, although the Philippines says a few of its soldiers have been injured. But President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has warned that any Filipino deaths caused by China’s actions will be it is considered an “act of war”.

Observers worry that their dispute could lead to a major conflict in the South China Sea.

The Philippines’ previous attempt to get the United Nations to arbitrate ended with a ruling that China had no legal claims within its so-called dash line, the boundary it uses to claim the vast South China Sea. Beijing refused to recognize the decision.

But in recent weeks, both countries have made an effort to reduce the conflicts in the sea.

Last month they agreed to allow the Philippines to repopulate the area off Second Thomas Shoal with food, supplies and personnel. Since then this has happened without any reported collisions.

The events at Sabina Shoal however raise the question of whether such a détente is effective if the conflict is likely to shift to a new location.

More BBC Monitoring reporting.