The Philippines on Thursday accused the China Coast Guard (CCG) of firing water cannon and carrying out a “dangerous manoeuvre” against Philippine vessels delivering aid to Filipino fishermen near Scarborough Shoal.
According to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), a Chinese vessel blasted the BRP Datu Dumangsil with a water cannon before another coast guard ship crossed the bow of its sister vessel, BRP Datu Paiburong.
The incident happened four days after an earlier altercation between the two countries in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippine military also accused the CCG of injuring a Filipino Navy sailor.
China rejects accusation
The incident occurred just hours before the Philippines hosted a regional security forum in Manila attended by the top diplomats of China and the United States.
China, however, claimed that the CCG’s actions were meant to drive away the Philippine vessels, which they accused of intruding in their “territorial waters.”
“The China Coast Guard took necessary measures, including tracking, monitoring, blocking, and controlling the Philippine vessels in accordance with the law, and expelled them,” China Coast Guard spokesman Jiang Lue said, as reported by Agence France-Presse.
For years, China has been asserting its claim to most of the South China Sea, including the flashpoint Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Shoal, and the newer Sabina Shoal.
Beijing bases its claim on the so-called nine-dash line, but a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague found that the claim has no legal basis. China has rejected this decision.
China’s demands
Meanwhile, the Philippines maintains a military presence in the disputed Spratly Islands aboard its grounded warship BRP Sierra Madre.
China has repeatedly demanded that the warship, which has been grounded there since 1999, be removed from the area.
The shoal has been the site of frequent confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in recent years.
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Monday altercation in Second Thomas Shoal
The latest confrontation followed another incident on July 20 near Second Thomas Shoal.
According to the Philippine military, the sailor was hurt and his smaller vessel was damaged when CCG personnel on an inflatable boat repeatedly struck him on the head with a wooden baton.
Other Filipino sailors recorded the incident on camera, prompting condemnation from Philippine officials.
China, however, said two rubber boats from what it described as an “illegally” grounded Philippine vessel had rammed one of its patrol boats in a “dangerous manner.”
“During the incident, Philippine personnel maliciously attacked Chinese law enforcement personnel using oars and long sticks,” the CCG said in a social media post.
The Philippine military said Filipino sailors aboard the two rubber boats had asked the Chinese personnel to back away in a non-confrontational manner before they were allegedly attacked.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr also condemned the incident, according to Palace Press Officer Claire Castro.
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