The Chinese coast guard has fired water cannons while attempting to disrupt a Philippine government mission near a contested South China Sea feature, Manila said on Tuesday.
According to a statement shared with local media by the Philippines‘ Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), two bureau ships were delivering supplies to fishers at Scarborough Shoal, a traditional fishing ground situated within the Southeast Asian country’s exclusive economic zone.
Four vessels, including three from China’s coast guard and one from its navy, sailed close and began following at a close distance, with the coast guard firing water cannons to deter the supply mission.
Citing alleged historical rights, China has become increasingly assertive in claiming dominion over upward of 90 percent of the South China Sea, overlapping with competing claims by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
The BFAR called its latest efforts “unsuccessful.” “Notwithstanding the dangerous maneuvers and opening of water cannons, both BFAR vessels were able to resupply the Filipino fisherfolk in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc,” it said in a statement, using the Philippine term for Scarborough Shoal.
This February 15 photo shows a Chinese coast guard ship shadowing the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) ship BRP Datu Tamblot near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal, in disputed waters of the South China Sea. On October 8, Chinese forces deployed water cannons while attempting to deter a BFAR mission to supply local fishermen.
Ted Aljibe/AFP via Getty Images
“The BFAR will not be deterred from fulfilling its mission of patrolling all Philippine maritime zones and providing support and assistance to Filipino fisherfolk in the West Philippine Sea,” the bureau added.
In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, Chinese coast guard spokesperson Liu Dejun said the agency’s ships had “followed and monitored the whole incident and took control measures in accordance with the law” after the fisheries bureau ships “insisted on trespassing at the atoll.”
Chinese forces acted in a “professional, standard, legitimate, and lawful” manner,” Liu said, reiterating Beijing’s claim it has “sovereign rights and jurisdiction” over the area. He urged the Philippines to “immediately stop its infringing acts.”
Under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Philippines has been challenging China’s domineering presence in the U.S. ally’s exclusive economic zone, within which international maritime law grants the Philippines the sole right to natural resources.
Since last year, clashes between the neighbors have involved collisions, other Chinese coast guard water cannon attacks, and a physical altercation that left several Philippine troops injured.
China seized de facto control over Scarborough Shoal over a heated standoff with the Philippines in 2012.
Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, a Philippine Navy spokesman, said the country’s armed forces were prepared to assist local fishers should Chinese forces target them with forceful measures such as those reported by the BFAR.
“We would not like to speculate if this will be done to us or not, but again, we are more than ready, we have contingency plans in place in case acts like this will be conducted against our fishermen,” ABS-CBN News quoted him as saying.
Newsweek reached out to the Philippine Fisheries Bureau and Philippine coast guard with written requests for comment on Tuesday.
