Sth.China Sea

The Philippine government said Monday that Chinese ships had “deliberately hit” Philippine boats in the South China Sea over the weekend, AFP reports. The announcement of deliberate ramming further fuels the diplomatic tension between the Philippines and China. The two countries have blamed each other for two collisions that happened Sunday near the Second Thomas Shoal atoll in the Spratly Islands, west of the Philippines. Both have released video footage that they believe backs up their accusations. The collisions occurred when a Filipino boat was carrying supplies for Filipino soldiers stationed on a grounded ship. /ritzau/