KUALA LUMPUR – It looks like the Philippines has had enough of China’s water cannons and “harassment” of its vessels in the South China Sea as Manila summons a senior Chinese official today.
“The Philippines protested the harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing and blocking, dangerous manoeuvres, use of water cannons, and other aggressive actions of China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia vessels against Filipino government vessels,” the Philippines’ Foreign Affairs Department said in a statement.
The number two in the Chinese embassy in Manila – Zhou Zhiyong – has to explain the April 30 incident, which saw a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel and a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) boat damaged due to the use of water cannons by China’s coast guard.
“China’s aggressive actions, particularly its water cannon use, caused damage to vessels of PCG and BFAR. The Philippines demanded that Chinese vessels leave Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) and its vicinity immediately,” it said, using the Filipino name for the shoal.
The Chinese embassy has yet to respond.
The shoal, which has been controlled by China since 2012, has been a flashpoint, especially between Philippine and Chinese vessels, in recent months. Manila has been disputing China’s claim on the shoal, among others
On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian was reported as saying that the coast guard took “necessary” actions against Philippine vessels, which were seen as encroaching on Chinese territory.
Lin added that it was “in accordance with the law, and the way it handled the situation was professional”.
The water cannons have been described as having pressure as much as 14kg per square centimetre. There were no casualties in the April 30 incident.
The Scarborough Shoal is a collection of reefs and rocks 240km west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and 900km from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese land mass.
Last month, the United States said an armed attack against Philippine vessels, aircraft, armed forces or coast guard in the South China Sea would invoke the mutual defence treaty between Washington and Manila. – May 2, 2024