BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese authorities have marked the deaths of two Coast Guard personnel on a “frontline” mission in the South China Sea in August last year, the first apparent acknowledgement of fatalities in the high-profile collision between Chinese vessels.
A Chinese coast guard ship collided bow first with a Chinese naval destroyer on August 11 as they manoeuvred against Philippines coast guard operations to support its fishermen at the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal.
Chinese officials have never directly acknowledged the collision, which then Philippines National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said at the time had left two Chinese personnel dead and a third missing.
The names of two coast guard personnel are listed among “martyrs” on an official commemorative website run by China’s veterans’ affairs ministry.
Yi Xinyu, aged 21, and Cheng Long, aged 25, died while on a maritime rights protection mission, their citations say. Cheng’s says he died “tragically, heroically,” while Yi’s notes he was in a frontline South China Sea operation.
The Chinese defence ministry did not immediately respond to questions faxed by Reuters. The veterans’ affairs ministry could not be reached for comment.
It is not known when the names of Cheng and Yi were added to the website, but they were being discussed on Chinese social media feeds on Thursday.
The accident was the first known collision between Chinese vessels in the area amid protracted tensions over disputed features straddling the vital trade route.
At the time, Beijing accused the Philippines of “dangerous manoeuvres” without referring directly to the collision but Manila’s foreign ministry said it bore no responsibility for the accident, which it described as an “unfortunate outcome”.
Reuters reported on August 27 that satellite images showed the coast guard vessel was under repair at Hainan Island.
Reporting by Beijing newsroom; additional reporting by Karen Lema in Manila; writing by Greg Torode; editing by Saad Sayeed
