It’s hard to call the collision of two multi-thousand-ton military ships “fortunate,” but that’s exactly what analysts are saying about the incident in the South China Sea this week that left a China Coast Guard ship with a heavily damaged bow after it hit a People’s Liberation Army Navy guided-missile destroyer.

China criticised the Philippines for its ‘malign’ moves in Monday’s incident, saying it had ‘seriously harmed peace and stability at sea’.

The Philippines expressed serious concern on Tuesday over what it called "dangerous manoeuvres and unlawful interference" by Chinese vessels during a coast guard supply mission for Filipino fishermen in the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says his country will inevitably be drawn “kicking and screaming” in any war over Taiwan due to its proximity and the presence of large numbers of Filipino workers on the self-ruled island,

MANILA (Reuters) -Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that Beijing has "misinterpreted" his comments saying Manila will be inevitably drawn in to a conflict between China and Taiwan should one erupt.