The Philippines yesterday accused Chinese vessels of blocking a ship transporting provisions to Filipino fishers in the South China Sea, saying they had made “aggressive and dangerous” maneuvers including ramming the ship and using water cannons, while China said it took “control measures” when the ship entered the disputed waters.
The Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel “was targeted by the [Chinese] People’s Liberation Army Navy ship and multiple China Coast Guard ships, which attempted to encircle and block the humanitarian mission,” Manila’s South China Sea task force said in a statement.
The China Coast Guard vessels “made close perilous maneuvers that resulted in ramming, blasted horns, and deployed water cannons against the BFAR vessel, eventually leading to the latter’s engine failure,” said the statement detailing the incident near Sabina Shoal (Xianbin, 仙賓礁).
Photo: EPA-EFE / Philippine Coast Guard
China Coast Guard spokesman Gan Yu (甘羽) said yesterday’s collision occurred when a Philippines vessel refused to comply with “control measures” near the shoal in Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), which is also claimed by Taiwan and the Philippines, among other countries.
The Philippine vessel then “deliberately collided” with a Chinese Coast Guard ship, China Central Television quoted Gan as saying, adding that China had “promptly rescued the Philippine personnel who fell into the water.”
It was unclear if “personnel” meant one or more people, and no further details were given.
“China warns the Philippines to immediately cease its infringing actions, otherwise the Philippines will bear all consequences resulting from this situation,” Gan said.
On Saturday the Philippines accused China of firing flares at one of its aircraft earlier this month as it patrolled the South China Sea.
On Monday last week, both countries also reported a collision between their coast guard ships near the disputed Sabina Shoal, 140km west of the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200km from Hainan, the closest Chinese landmass.
Manila said that was the first hostile action by Beijing against it near Sabina, where both sides have stationed coast guard vessels in the past few months and where the Philippines fears China is about to build an artificial island.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international tribunal ruling that its assertions have no legal basis. It deploys boats to patrol the busy waterway and has built artificial islands that it has militarized to reinforce its claims.
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