Chinese Destroyer Involved in Fatal Collision Returns to South China Sea
MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The PLAN destroyer that was involved in a fatal collision incident with a China Coast Guard cutter at Scarborough Shoal last summer is back in frontline service, according to recent military reports. Type 052D-class guided-missile destroyer Guilin (164) appeared with a combined flotilla under the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command in the South China Sea on a Tuesday social media post. Sister ships Weinan (166), Changsha (173) and Guiyang (119) operated alongside Type 055 Zunyi (107) during the live-fire drills, according to a video shared by Chinese Military Online. Media in the post showcases the firing
Type 055-class guided-missile destroyer Zunyi (107) leads a formation of warships. China Military Online image MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The PLAN destroyer that was involved in a fatal collision incident with a China Coast Guard cutter at Scarborough Shoal last summer is back in frontline service, according to recent military reports.
Type 052D-class guided-missile destroyer Guilin (164) appeared with a combined flotilla under the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command in the South China Sea on a Tuesday social media post.
Sister ships Weinan (166), Changsha (173) and Guiyang (119) operated alongside Type 055 Zunyi (107) during the live-fire drills, according to a video shared by Chinese Military Online. Media in the post showcases the firing of main cannons, close-in weapon systems, long-range attack cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles.
Guilin’s appearance at the drills represents one of the most intensive activities that the missile destroyer has participated in since the 2025 incident at Scarborough Shoal. Last August, the warship collided with China Coast Guard cutter 3104 in a botched chase attempt of Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Suluan (MRRV-4406), USNI News reported.
The CCG confirmed that two people died in the collision, which saw the 7,500-ton destroyer effectively shear off the bow of Jiangdao-class patrol ship 3104. The death confirmation was announced last month, one year after the incident. While Guilin sustained light damage in comparison, the warship had not been seen under the PLAN’s forward-deployed force at Scarborough Shoal since.
China’s newest warships are regularly sent to the South China Sea to operate in the face of Philippine forces in the ongoing territorial disputes between Beijing and Manila. Aside from the Type 052D and Type 055, the newest class of Chinese guided-missile frigate, the Type 054B, has shadowed Philippine Navy warships. In the skies, the PLA Air Force practices the deployment of anti-ship missile-armed strike aircraft.
State media reports claim that the combat readiness drills around the disputed reefs and shoals are designed to counter “rights-violation and provocative acts.” These activities have become a standard response to Manila’s joint patrols with partners such as Australia, Japan and the U.S.
While the Philippine Navy sorties newly procured warships from South Korea and the U.S. to the South China Sea, the response from the PLAN involves an overmatch in quantity of vessels and firepower.
With new air defense systems, improved sensors and increasingly sophisticated maritime and land attack missiles, China’s destroyers are proving to be significant strike and anti-air warfare platforms. In recent years, the PLAN revealed the launch capability of the hypersonic YJ-20 from the Type 055 and 052D classes, adding to their current ability to strike targets at extended ranges with the CJ-10.
