From the Website of CNN NEWS
links: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/22/asia/south-china-sea-philippines-collision-intl-hnk/index.html
China and Philippines accuse each other over collisions in disputed South China Sea
In a statement, Philippine authorities said a Chinese Coast Guard ship carried out “dangerous blocking maneuvers” that caused it to collide with a Philippine vessel carrying supplies to troops stationed in Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, in the Spratly Islands chain.
China’s move was “provocative, irresponsible and illegal” and “imperiled the safety of the crew” of the Philippine boats, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea said.
In a second incident Sunday, the Philippine task force said a Chinese maritime militia vessel collided with a Philippine Coast Guard ship, which was on the same mission to resupply the BRP Sierra Madre. Manila grounded the navy transport ship on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 and has manned it with Filipino marines to enforce its claims to the area.
On Monday, Manila summoned China’s ambassador to the Philippines and filed a diplomatic protest against Beijing.
“China as a major power bears a heavier responsibility of contributing to peace and stability in the region,” said a spokesperson for the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.
Beijing claims “indisputable sovereignty” over almost all of the 1.3 million square miles of the South China Sea, as well as most of the islands and sandbars within it, including many features that are hundreds of miles away from China’s mainland.
In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in a landmark maritime dispute, which concluded that China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea.
Beijing has ignored the ruling.
In a statement Sunday, the Chinese Coast Guard accused the Philippines of violating international marine law and threatening the navigation safety of Chinese ships.
It accused the first Philippine ship of trespassing into the waters of what it calls the Nansha islands and Renai Reef, prompting the Chinese Coast Guard ship to intercept “in accordance with the law,” and resulting in a “minor collision.”
In the second incident, the Chinese Coast Guard said the Philippine Coast Guard vessel “purposely provoked trouble and reversed course,” causing a collision with a Chinese fishing boat.
No injuries were reported in either collision Sunday, which marks the latest in a series of recent flashpoints between Beijing and Manila in the disputed waterway.
In September, the Philippine Coast Guard released video of a Filipino diver cutting a Chinese-installed floating barrier in a disputed area of the waterway that had prevented Filipino boats from entering.
It came just days after after the Philippine Coast Guard accused China’s maritime militia of turning vast patches of coral near the Palawan island chain into a bleached and broken wasteland.
China’s foreign ministry dismissed those allegations as “false and groundless.”
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Over 70 staff members of UN aid agency killed in Gaza since war began, head says
From CNN's Christiane Amanpour and Amy Cassidy
The chief of the main United Nations aid agency in Gaza said on Thursday that 72 of its staff members have been killed in the enclave since the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7.
"We have lost as of now 72 staff," Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), told CNN.
He continued by saying that UNRWA staff in Gaza are "sharing the same living condition(s) ... (as) anyone else."
"They're struggling on a daily basis to find the bread, to find the water, to protect their children. And despite that, and despite the heavy loss within this organization, they remain committed to do whatever is possible to provide support to the people in Gaza. But it's a constant daily struggle," Lazzarini said.
On Wednesday, UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma echoed that sentiment, saying "no place is safe" in Gaza. Some staff workers were killed "in the line of duty and some were killed at home," she said.
From CNN's Christiane Amanpour and Amy Cassidy
The chief of the main United Nations aid agency in Gaza said on Thursday that 72 of its staff members have been killed in the enclave since the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7.
"We have lost as of now 72 staff," Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), told CNN.
He continued by saying that UNRWA staff in Gaza are "sharing the same living condition(s) ... (as) anyone else."
"They're struggling on a daily basis to find the bread, to find the water, to protect their children. And despite that, and despite the heavy loss within this organization, they remain committed to do whatever is possible to provide support to the people in Gaza. But it's a constant daily struggle," Lazzarini said.
On Wednesday, UNRWA communications director Juliette Touma echoed that sentiment, saying "no place is safe" in Gaza. Some staff workers were killed "in the line of duty and some were killed at home," she said.
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