The Philippine military on Tuesday blamed China for the collision of two Chinese navy and coast guard ships while trying to drive the Philippine coast guard and fishermen from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

It’s hard to call the collision of two multi-thousand-ton military ships “fortunate,” but that’s exactly what analysts are saying about the incident in the South China Sea this week that left a China Coast Guard ship with a heavily damaged bow after it hit a People’s Liberation Army Navy guided-missile destroyer.

China criticised the Philippines for its ‘malign’ moves in Monday’s incident, saying it had ‘seriously harmed peace and stability at sea’.