China has confirmed the deaths of two sailors in a collision within the South China Sea, in response to authorities statements almost a 12 months after the incident.
In August 2025, a Chinese language navy vessel collided with one from its personal coast guard whereas chasing a Philippine patrol boat close to a disputed shoal.
A Chinese language Coast Guard spokesperson confirmed on the time that there had been a confrontation, however didn’t point out the collision, nor accidents or deaths.
The Individuals’s Armed Police Pressure mentioned on social media Wednesday it had awarded 4 “martyrs” — together with Coast Guard sailors Yi Xinyu and Cheng Lengthy — a particular title for “steadfast political convictions, exemplary deeds and excellent achievements”.
Yi and Cheng each died on August 11, 2025 — the date of final 12 months’s collision — in a “rights protection operation”, in response to their profiles on the federal government’s “China Martyrs Community”.
“Yi sacrificed his life… whereas taking part in a frontline rights protection operation within the South China Sea,” in response to the web site.
Cheng “heroically sacrificed his life throughout a maritime rights protection operation”, the web site reads.
It isn’t clear when the sailors got the designation of “martyr”, which awards their households particular housing and medical help amongst different support.
Yi was 21 years outdated on the time of his loss of life, and Cheng was 25, in response to their profiles on the web site.
The incident had occurred close to the contested Scarborough Shoal because the Philippine coast guard escorted boats distributing support to fishermen within the space, spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela had mentioned in a press release.
Video launched by Manila confirmed a China Coast Guard ship and a a lot bigger vessel bearing the quantity 164 on its hull colliding with a loud crash.
“The (China Coast Guard vessel) CCG 3104, which was chasing the (Filipino coast guard vessel) BRP Suluan at excessive velocity, carried out a dangerous maneuver from the (Philippine) vessel’s starboard quarter, resulting in the impression with the PLA (Individuals’s Liberation Military) Navy warship,” Tarriela mentioned.
“This resulted in substantial injury to the CCG vessel’s forecastle, rendering it unseaworthy,” he mentioned.
The collision was one other sequence of confrontations between China and the Philippines within the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually solely regardless of a world ruling that the assertion has no authorized foundation.
🚨🚨🚨🇨🇳#PLA Navy ship collision with #China Coast Guard ship whereas harassing 🇵🇭#Philippines mission at Scarborough Shoal! https://t.co/U1cB3cnGjZ
— Ray Powell (@GordianKnotRay) August 11, 2025
The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks — has been a flashpoint between the international locations since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.
Tarriela informed AFP the Chinese language crew “by no means responded” to the Filipino ship’s provide of help.
By Agence France-Presse
