Chinese and Philippine coast guard vessels confronted one another in the South China Sea on Tuesday raising tensions in a dispute between the two countries over maritime rights. Manila claimed that China’s coast guard shot powerful water cannon towards Philippine vessels, damaging one of them.
The incident occurred near the Scarborough Shoal, one of a number of reefs, small islands and other maritime features in the South China Sea that Beijing claims sovereignty over. An international arbitration court ruled in 2016 that the claims had no legal basis, a ruling China has rejected.
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China said on Tuesday it had expelled two Philippines vessels as they approached the disputed shoal but the Philippine coast guard said they had stood their ground despite suffering damage from Chinese water cannon.
“This damage serves as evidence of the forceful water pressure used by the China coast guard in their harassment of the Philippine vessels,” Philippine coast guard spokesman Jay Tarriela said.
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“They were not deterred and will persist in carrying out their legitimate operations to support Filipino fishermen and ensure their safety.”
China’s foreign ministry said the Philippine vessels entered the waters near Scarborough Shoal without China’s permission and that they had been expelled.
“China urges the Philippine side to immediately stop its provocative acts of infringement and do not challenge China’s firm determination to safeguard its sovereignty,” spokesman Lin Jian told a regular press briefing in Beijing.
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“China’s coast guard took necessary measures in line with the law to firmly expel them.”
The incident came during a large-scale joint military exercise involving Philippines and United States forces, partly in the South China Sea. The US recently reassured Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos jnr that it was ready to act on their Mutual Defence Treaty if necessary.
A series of incidents involving the use of water cannon by the Chinese coast guard has raised fears that if one such clash leads to the death of a Philippines crew member, the US navy could be drawn in. Manila has stepped up its military and diplomatic ties with Washington since Mr Marcos succeeded Rodrigo Duterte, who was close to Beijing and was a pariah in the West, in 2022.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, an important shipping route, putting it in dispute with Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 ruled unanimously that there was no legal basis for China’s claim to historic rights to resources within the waters around the so-called “nine-dash line”.
The arbitration court also ruled that China’s holdings in the Spratly Islands were legally rocks which did not generate an exclusive economic zone of 200 nautical miles or a continental shelf. And it said that China had interfered with traditional Philippine fishing rights at Scarborough Shoal.
China did not take part in the arbitration process, asserting that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to resolve the dispute and Beijing has never accepted the ruling. Manila is considering seeking a second arbitration from the court, a move Beijing fears could encourage other countries that dispute its claims in the South China Sea to follow suit.
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