The Philippine foreign minister has called China an "aggressor", accusing it of increasing tensions in the South China Sea and causing a collision that damaged one of Manila's boats.
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No one was harmed when a Chinese coast guard ship and one of Manila's smaller wooden resupply boats made contact on Sunday, but the incident has drawn international condemnation and expressions of concern from the US.
"All incidents like this will bolster the case that it's not the Philippines that's the aggressor, but the other party, which is China," Philippine foreign ministry spokeswoman Teresita Daza told a joint news conference on Monday.
China's coast guard said on Sunday there had been a "slight collision" between one of its ships and the Philippine boat while the coast guard was "lawfully" blocking the boat from transporting "illegal construction materials".
It was not the first time that China's coastguard, backed by its maritime militia boats, has interfered with the Philippines' resupply mission. On August 5, a Chinese coastguard ship used a water cannon against a resupply boat.
The regular resupply missions are for Philippine troops living aboard the BRP Sierra Madre, a former warship that Manila grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert its sovereignty claims.
The shoal, known in Manila as Ayungin and Renai Reef in China, is within the Philippines' 370km exclusive economic zone.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr held a security meeting on Monday to discuss "the latest violation by China" and ordered his country's coast guard to investigate the incident, which his office said "is being taken seriously at the highest level of government".
The US State Department said China's coast guard had "violated international law by intentionally interfering with the Philippine vessels' exercise of high seas freedom of navigation".
China foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters the US "issued a statement in violation of international law, groundlessly attacking and accusing China's legitimate rights and law enforcement actions".
Mao said the area of the Second Thomas Shoal has always been China's territory.
"Renai Reef is an inseparable part of China's Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands) geographically, economically, politically and historically," Mao said, referring to the Chinese names for the Second Thomas Shoal and Spratly Islands.
Tensions between China and the Philippines have grown under Marcos, who has complained about Beijing's aggressive behaviour and sought closer ties with traditional ally the United States.
Maritime confrontations between Manila and Beijing have become a regular feature in the South China Sea, as both countries assert their territorial claims in the highly strategic waters.
The Philippines told China to stop "illegal" and "provocative" actions in the South China Sea, saying it should respect the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which said China's expansive claims had no legal basis.
One of the images shared by the Philippine coast guard showed three of the four boats carrying out the resupply operation on Sunday surrounded by seven bigger Chinese coast guard vessels.
Jonathan Malaya, spokesperson at the Philippines' National Security Council, said China's actions caused Sunday's collision, even as Beijing's embassy in Manila said the Philippine vessels were "trespassing" at the shoal.
"We are relieved and thankful that no Filipino personnel were harmed. But we are concerned by the escalation and provocations by Chinese vessels, who have no business being in the West Philippine Sea," Malaya said.
Australian Associated Press
