The Philippines and China have traded accusations over a collision of their vessels near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea as tensions over claims in the vital waterway escalate. The shoal is part of what are internationally known as the Spratly Islands.

China’s coastguard said in a statement on Sunday that two Philippine vessels, ignoring repeated warnings, had “illegally entered the waters adjacent to Ren’ai Reef in the Nansha Islands without the approval of the Chinese government”.

It said the Unaizah Mae 1 “made an unprofessional and dangerous sudden turn, intentionally ramming into China Coast Guard vessel 21556”. It said the Philippine side bore full responsibility.

Spokesperson Gan Yu also called on the Philippines to stop its “provocative acts”, saying Beijing would continue to carry out “law-enforcement activities” in its waters.

Meanwhile, the Philippine coastguard accused China of firing water cannons and ramming resupply vessels and a coast guard ship, causing “serious engine damage” to one.

Spokesperson Jay Tarriela said in a statement on the social media platform X that the “M/L Kalayaan suffered serious engine damage. Contrary to China Coast Guard disinformation, UM1 rammed by CCG vessel”.

Hours before Sunday’s incident, around 200 Philippine fishermen, youth leaders and civil society groups had joined a Christmas convoy to the area to deliver donations.

But the convoy’s organizer said the fishing boats decided to pull out as they “erred on the side of caution” due to the presence of Chinese boats.

The Philippines and China have a long history of maritime incidents in the contested South China Sea, through which more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne trade passes annually.

Sunday’s incident comes a day after Manila accused Beijing of firing water cannon at a civilian-operated government fishing vessel, a move Beijing called legitimate “control measures”.

According to Chinese state media, Beijing also said that it took “control measures” against the three Philippine vessels in the South China Sea that it claimed had intruded into waters near Scarborough Shoal on Saturday.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. But the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2016 said China’s claims had no legal basis.

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“China’s top legislature voted to appoint Wang Yi as foreign minister … as it convened a session on Tuesday,” the Xinhua news agency reported. “Qin Gang was removed from the post of foreign minister.”

The announcement came a month after Qin’s last public appearance.

Qin, who was made foreign minister in December, has not since been seen in public on June 25, when he held talks with counterparts from Russia, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

Qin’s final appearance in state media was a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko, who visited Beijing less than 48 hours after the Wagner mercenary group’s abortive rebellion against Moscow.

China then canceled talks between Qin and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on July 4 without explanation.

Qin subsequently missed high-level meetings with United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US climate envoy John Kerry.

China’s foreign ministry later claimed Qin could not attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Jakarta for “health reasons”.

His mysterious absence has fuelled speculation that Qin has fallen out of favor with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership.

The 57-year-old Tianjin native has served in the Chinese government since the late 1980s, mostly in roles related to foreign affairs.

Qin was regarded as a close confidant of Chinese President Xi Jinping and viewed as a rising star within the CCP.

In recent years, he was seen as exemplifying Beijing’s turn towards aggressive so-called “wolf warrior” diplomacy.

A growing list of high-profile figures in China has gone missing for prolonged periods without explanation in recent years.

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TikTok, the popular short-form video-sharing app that has created celebrities out of students and housewives, has been at the center of controversy in recent years.

While the app has been a hit among young people, it has also faced accusations of privacy violations and concerns over its alleged ties to the Chinese government.

As a result, several countries around the world have banned or restricted the app.

India was the first country to ban TikTok in June 2020, citing concerns over national security and data privacy.

The move was seen as part of a broader crackdown on Chinese apps and companies amid rising tensions between the two countries.

The ban left TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, reeling as India had been its largest market, with over 200 million users.

In July 2020, the United States also considered banning TikTok, citing similar concerns over national security and data privacy.

The Trump administration threatened to ban the app unless it was sold to a US company, citing concerns that the app could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans.

Despite the attempts by the Trump administration to ban the app, in September 2020, a federal judge blocked the ban, stating that it was “arbitrary and capricious”.

However, despite initial resistance, the US government approved an unprecedented ban on the use of TikTok on federal government devices this past December.

As a result, more than half of the states and Congress have banned TikTok from official government devices.

EU, US, and Canada take action

On Monday, the White House widened the ban to include all government agencies, giving federal employees 30 days to remove the app from their work devices.

Meanwhile, the EU’s executive branch said last week it had temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament followed suit, banning staff from installing the app on any phone that had access to email or parliamentary networks.

Also on Tuesday, Canada joined the US and EU in enacting a sweeping ban, preventing TikTok from being installed on all government-issued mobile devices, as western officials take action over the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.

Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, did not rule out further action. “I suspect that as the government takes the significant step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians from business to private individuals will reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices,” he said.

On March 1, Turkish authorities fined TikTok a total of 1.75 million lira ($93,000) for not taking sufficient measures to protect users from unlawful processing of their data, the Personal Data Protection Board (KVKK) said.

Several other countries have also taken action against TikTok. In January 2021, Pakistan banned TikTok for “immoral and indecent” content, while in February 2021, Myanmar banned the app as part of a broader crackdown on social media following a military coup.

In June 2021, Nigeria also banned the app, citing concerns over the “use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.”

Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership banned TikTok and the game PUBG in September 2022 on the grounds of protecting youths from “being misled.”

In December 2022, Taiwan imposed a public sector ban on TikTok after the FBI warned that TikTok posed a national security risk.

TikTok bans spark debate

The bans on TikTok have sparked debate over the role of social media companies and their responsibility to protect user data and privacy.

Some argue that the bans are necessary to protect national security and prevent foreign governments from accessing sensitive information, while others see the bans as an infringement on free speech.

Despite the bans, TikTok remains one of the most popular social media apps in the world, with over one billion users worldwide.

The app has taken steps to address concerns over privacy and security, including opening a “transparency center” in the US  to allow outside experts to review its policies and practices.

In conclusion, the bans on TikTok reflect growing concerns over privacy and national security in an increasingly connected world. While some countries have chosen to ban the app outright, others have imposed restrictions or called for greater oversight of social media companies.

As the debate over the role of social media in society continues, it remains to be seen how governments and tech companies will balance the competing interests of privacy, security, and free speech.

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