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.

The Philippines wants China to "draw lessons" from a collision between two of its own ships yesterday while harassing a Philippine patrol vessel near Scarborough Shoal, saying the incident is a reminder to abide by international maritime rules.