Two Chinese coast guard personnel marked as "martyrs" after South China Sea collision last year

Chinese authorities have acknowledged the deaths of two coast guard personnel in a collision between Chinese vessels in the South China Sea last August, marking the first official acknowledgement of the incident.

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.