A year on, Beijing confirms two Chinese sailors died in South China Sea friendly fire ship collision, calls them ‘martyrs’

BEIJING, Aug 7 — Beijing has quietly confirmed that two Chinese sailors died in a collision in the disputed South China Sea nearly a year after the incident.

Last August, a Chinese navy vessel collided with a Chinese coast guard ship while pursuing a Philippine patrol boat near a disputed shoal, according to video footage released by Manila.

At the time, the Chinese Coast Guard acknowledged a confrontation but made no mention of the collision or any casualties.

The People’s Armed Police Force said on social media on Wednesday that it had posthumously honoured four “martyrs”, including coast guard sailors Yi Xinyu and Cheng Long, for their role in a “rights defense operation”.

Profiles on the government-run China Martyrs Network said Yi and Cheng were both killed on August 11, 2025 — the same day the collision occurred.

“Yi sacrificed his life… while participating in a frontline rights defense operation in the South China Sea,” the website said.

Cheng “heroically sacrificed his life during a maritime rights defense operation”, according to the same website.

It remains unclear when the pair were officially designated as “martyrs”, a title that provides their families with benefits including housing and medical support.

Yi was 21 when he died, while Cheng was 25.

China and the Philippines have repeatedly confronted each other in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely despite overlapping claims by several neighbouring countries.

The latest serious confrontation came in July, when Filipino and Chinese vessels clashed again in the disputed waters, prompting both governments to summon each other’s ambassadors.