The Chinese coastguard has hit a Philippine supply boat with water cannons in the South China Sea for the second time this month.
China’s coastguard said it had taken measures against Philippine vessels in the disputed waters on Saturday — while the Philippines decried the moves, including the use of water cannons, as “irresponsible and provocative”.
The Philippine task force on the South China Sea said in a statement that China’s actions led to “significant damage” and injury to personnel on a civilian boat hired to resupply troops.
The incident occurred in the Second Thomas Shoal and Spratly Islands waters, according to the Chinese coastguard.
The shoal is home to a small number of Filipino troops stationed on a warship that Manila grounded there in 1999 to reinforce its sovereignty claims.
A similar incident occurred on March 5.
The Philippine military said the civilian boat was being escorted by two Philippine navy ships and two Philippine coastguard vessels.
A Philippine coastguard vessel was “impeded” and “encircled” by a Chinese coastguard vessel and two Chinese maritime militia vessels, the Philippine coastguard said in a separate statement.
As a result, the Philippine coastguard vessel was separated from the resupply boat by the “irresponsible and provocative behaviour” of the Chinese maritime forces, the agency said.
A spokesperson for China’s coastguard, Gan Yu, said the Philippines had broken a promise to remove the grounded vessel and sent two coastguard ships and a supply ship into the Second Thomas Shoal waters, 18 days after the last round of supplies.
China has not said who promised the removal or when that promise was made. The Philippine defence ministry, foreign ministry and military leaders have repeatedly said there was no such promise.
Gan Yu said the Philippines had infringed and provoked trouble, and deliberately undermined the peace and stability of the South China Sea.
He said the Philippine vessels ignored China’s repeated warnings and route controls and forced their way in.
“If the Philippines continues to act unilaterally, China will continue to take resolute measures to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” China’s foreign ministry said.
“All consequences caused by this shall be borne by the Philippines.”
But the Philippines will not be deterred “by veiled threats or hostility” from exercising its legal rights over its maritime zones, including the Second Thomas Shoal, its task force said.
Footage later shared by the Armed Forces of the Philippines appeared to show people onboard a rubber boat installing floating barriers at sea, which the Philippines said came from the Chinese Maritime Militia to seal off the entrance to the shoal.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including the Second Thomas Shoal, which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, and has deployed vessels to patrol the disputed atoll.
A 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration found that China’s sweeping claims have no legal basis.
The president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, told the ABC’s 7.30 the potential for conflict was “much higher now”.
“We worry in the Philippines because it could come from, not a strategic decision by anyone saying, ‘OK, we’re going to war,’ but just by some servicemen making a mistake, or some action that’s misunderstood,” he said.
“That’s why the ongoing attempt is always to try and lower the temperature down [when] the rhetoric is up.”
Reuters/AP/ABC