Beijing:

A Philippine ship and a Chinese vessel collided near the Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Monday, the Chinese Coast Guard said.

Known in Chinese as the Ren’ai Reef, the Second Thomas Shoal hosts a garrison of Philippine troops on a grounded navy vessel, the Sierra Madre, to assert Manila’s claims to the waters.

The area has seen a number of confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships, often during Philippine attempts to supply the garrison.

The Shoal lies about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the western Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometres from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan island.

The Chinese coast guard said in a statement Monday that a Philippine resupply ship in the area had “ignored many solemn warnings from the Chinese side”.

It “approached the… Chinese vessel in an unprofessional way, resulting in a collision”, the statement said.

Beijing accused the ship of having “illegally broken into the sea near Ren’ai Reef in China’s Nansha Islands”.

“The Chinese Coast Guard took control measures against the Philippine ship in accordance with the law.”

Beijing claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea, brushing aside competing claims from several Southeast Asian nations including the Philippines and an international ruling that its stance has no legal basis.

China deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waters and has turned several reefs into militarised artificial islands. 

This month, Manila accused Chinese boats of illegally seizing food and medicine airdropped to the Philippine outpost at the Second Thomas Shoal.

It was the first time supplies had been seized, the military said.

Chinese personnel on the boats later dumped the items in the water, Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said.

It was not clear if they belonged to the Chinese coast guard or navy, the military said.

China in response insisted the Sierra Madre was illegally grounded on the reef and urged the Philippines to “stop making trouble”.

‘Dangerous’ incursions 

On Saturday, new Chinese coast guard rules took effect under which it can detain foreigners for alleged trespassing in the disputed sea.

Manila has accused the Chinese coast guard of “barbaric and inhumane behaviour” against Philippine vessels, and President Ferdinand Marcos has called the new rules a “very worrisome” escalation.

China has defended its new coast guard rules. A foreign ministry spokesman said last month they were intended to “better uphold order at sea”.

Chinese Coast Guard vessels have used water cannons against Philippine boats multiple times in the contested waters.

There have also been collisions that injured Philippine troops.

The Group of Seven bloc on Friday criticised what it called “dangerous” incursions by China in the South China Sea.

Confrontations between China and the Philippines have raised fears of a wider conflict over the sea that could involve the United States and other allies.

Trillions of dollars in ship-borne trade passes through the South China Sea annually, and huge unexploited oil and gas deposits are believed to lie under its seabed, though estimates vary greatly.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

American singer Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has sparked a diplomatic row as she is performing six sold-out shows in Singapore, which have disappointed the country’s neighbours, as per a report in the Independent. The exclusivity clause negotiated by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, which forbids Ms Swift from performing anywhere else in Southeast Asia, has led to a backlash among the city-state’s neighbours over the arrangement, which is estimated to be worth about 14 million pounds.

The ‘Lover’ singer is performing six shows in Singapore from March 2 to 9. Thailand and the Philippines have criticised the same and have branded the deal “unfriendly”. They have expressed that they are being deprived of the increase in tourism linked to her concerts.

Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said that he was informed of the agreement that Ms Swift will not do any other shows in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Citing a concert promoter, he said that Singapore offered Ms Swift up to US$3 million per concert if she did not play anywhere else in Southeast Asia, according to Sky News.

“The Singapore government is astute. If she came to Thailand, it would have been cheaper to organise it here, and I believe she would be able to attract more sponsors and tourists to Thailand. Even though we would have to subsidise at least 500m baht, it would be worth it,” he said.

The Thai PM said in a keynote speech at the iBusiness Forum 2024 in Bangkok, “If I had known this, I would have brought the shows to Thailand. Concerts can generate added value for the economy.”

Filipino lawmaker Joey Salceda said that the deal  “isn’t what good neighbours do”. “Our countries are good friends. That’s why actions like that hurt.” Although he mentioned that it boosted Singapore’s economy, it was done “at the expense of neighbouring countries, which could not attract their own foreign concertgoers, and whose fans had to go to Singapore.” He further said that the Philippines should not “just let things like these pass.”

Meanwhile, the Singapore PM confirmed that Ms Swift was provided with “certain incentives” from a government fund created to revive Singapore’s tourism sector following the Covid-19 outbreak. “It has turned out to be a very successful arrangement. I don’t see that as being unfriendly. Sometimes one country makes a deal, sometimes another country does. I don’t explicitly say ‘you will come here only on condition that you’ll not go to other places,” he added.

Additionally, he suggested that when Ms Swift performed shows in Sydney and Melbourne before her performance in Singapore, Australia may have come to similar “mutually acceptable, sensible arrangements.” “If that’s what’s needed to be done to get an outcome which is mutually beneficial and which, from Singapore’s point of view, serves not just to grow the economy but also to bring in visitors and goodwill from all over the region, I don’t see why not,” Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong said.

He stated, “If we had not made such an arrangement, would she have come to someplace else in southeast Asia or more places in southeast Asia? Maybe, maybe not. These are things that she will decide.”