The United States on Monday condemned China over a collision with the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea, the latest in a series of increasingly fraught confrontations that have raised the potential of a flashpoint for global conflict in the vital waterway.

A Chinese vessel and a Philippine supply ship collided near Second Thomas Shoal in the contested Spratly Islands early Monday, according to statements from both nations, which blamed each other for the incident.

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In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in a landmark maritime dispute, which concluded that China has no legal basis to claim historic rights to the bulk of the South China Sea.

But Beijing has ignored the ruling. Instead it has increasingly pushed its territorial claims in the strategically important and resource-rich waterway. Over the past year China Coast Guard ships – reinforced by maritime militia boats – have been involved in multiple clashes that have damaged Philippine ships and seen Filipino sailors injured by water cannon.