The Philippines accused China’s coast guard of firing water cannons and using a “dangerous maneuver” on Thursday to block ships bringing aid to Filipino fishermen near a disputed reef in the South China Sea.
The incident occurred near Scarborough Shoal, hours before Manila was to host a regional security forum attended by top diplomats from China and the United States.
It was the second incident involving the two Asian neighbors in four days, after several relatively peaceful months.
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea, including the flashpoint coast, despite an international ruling that its claim lacks any legal basis.
On Thursday, the Philippine coast guard said a Chinese Coast Guard vessel closed within 50 meters (164 feet) of the BRP Datu Dumangsil and fired water cannons at it for two minutes.
Half an hour later, a second Chinese coast guard vessel passed 500 meters along the bow of Dumangsil’s sister ship Datu Paiburong in what the Philippine statement called a “dangerous manoeuvre”.
China Coast Guard spokesman Jiang Lue said Philippine vessels “entered the jurisdictional waters of China’s Huangyan Island despite … repeated prohibitions and warnings.”
“The China Coast Guard took the necessary measures, including tracking, monitoring, blocking and controlling Philippine vessels in accordance with the law, and deported them,” he said.
No Philippine vessels were hit and they continued their mission to refuel Filipino fishermen in the area, a Philippine coastguard official told AFP.
Scarborough Shoal is a rock formation rich in fish, 240 kilometers (124 miles) from the main Philippine island of Luzon and hundreds of kilometers away from mainland China.
In a skirmish on Monday, the Philippine military accused Chinese Coast Guard personnel of clubbing a Filipino sailor near the disputed second Thomas Shoal area.
China said the Philippines had instigated the incident near a stranded ship that has long served as a Philippine garrison.
The two countries recalled each other’s ambassadors on Tuesday after the clash, which prompted condemnation of Beijing from Manila’s allies.
Maritime security issues are high on the agenda of ongoing meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other countries.
ASEAN members have long sought to reach a code of conduct with China on the waterway.
