The Chinese Coast Guard said on Tuesday that it fired water cannons at Filipino ships near the Scarborough Shoal, a feature China is attempting to seize by force in defiance of international law.
The Philippine government confirmed the incident and reported at least one injury during the encounter.
The Scarborough Shoal, called Huangyan Island by China and Panatag Shoal by the Philippines, lies within a vast region of the South China Sea claimed by Beijing. The Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague rejected China’s claims in 2016, but the Communist tyranny ignored the ruling and set about to take control of the shoal with increasingly dangerous displays of force.
Chinese Coast Guard ships frequently harass Filipino vessels that approach the shoal, firing on them with water cannons or attempting to frighten them off with ramming maneuvers. In August, two Chinese ships accidentally collided by using such intimidation maneuvers against a nimble Filipino patrol craft. The Filipinos sportingly offered assistance to the stricken Chinese vessels, but their offer was rudely rebuffed.
Last week, China prepared a decisive land grab by announcing it would create a “national nature reserve” on the Scarborough Shoal. This would almost certainly deny Filipinos access to fishing grounds they have used for generations.
“What we will see after this declaration is more intensity, more water cannoning, more ramming, more bullying of Philippines fishermen – within the Philippines’ own exclusive economic zone,” security expert Jennifer Parker presciently told Australia’s ABC News last week.
The incident on Tuesday involved what China described as a flotilla of over ten ships from the Philippine government approaching the Scarborough Shoal. Chinese Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu claimed the Philippine ships “illegally invaded China’s territorial waters of the Scarborough Shoal from different directions.”
Gan claimed one of the Philippine vessels “disregarded solemn warnings from the Chinese side and deliberately rammed a Chinese coast guard vessel.”
“The China coast guard lawfully implemented control measures against the Philippine ships,” he said.
The Chinese Coast Guard released a video that showed the bow of a Philippine ship marked “3014” striking a Chinese ship and damaging its deck railing, while the Chinese ship poured water cannon fire on the Philippine boat.
The Philippine Coast Guard responded that it was conducting a lawful mission to resupply over 35 fishing boats around the shoal when nine Chinese ships took “aggressive action” that caused “significant damage.”
According to Filipino officials, the ship numbered “3014” is named BRP Datu Gumbay Piang, and is registered with the department of fisheries.
The captain’s cabin and bridge of the ship were damaged by over 30 minutes of sustained water cannon fire from two Chinese vessels. A member of the crew was injured when one of the windows shattered under the intense water pressure.
The Philippine Coast Guard also accused a Chinese navy ship of broadcasting a false warning about “live-fire exercises” to panic the Filipino fishermen working near the shoal.
The Philippine Maritime Council dismissed Beijing’s account of the incident as “another case of Chinese disinformation and propaganda.”
The Philippines lodged a formal complaint with China about its plan to build a “nature preserve” on the Scarborough Shoal last week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States “stands with our Philippine ally in rejecting China’s destabilizing plans.”
“Beijing claiming Scarborough Reef as a nature preserve is yet another coercive attempt to advance sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors,” Rubio said on Friday, “including by preventing Filipino fishermen from accessing these traditional fishing grounds. China’s actions at Scarborough Reef continue to undermine regional stability.”
“The United States calls upon China to abide by the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal’s unanimous decision that China had unlawfully prevented Filipino fishermen from engaging in traditional fishing at Scarborough Reef, which is final and legally binding on both parties,” Rubio said.
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