China has denied that its ship rammed into the back of Philippine coast guard vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua at Sabina Shoal and claimed that the Philippines is at fault, despite releasing footage showing the incident. When pressed on how the Philippines could have rammed the front of the Chinese vessel from its back, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning replied: “This is the root cause of the current escalatory situation at Xianbin Jiao (Sabina Shoal). The measures China took are aimed at protecting its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.”
