Chinese and Philippine vessels clashed for a second consecutive day near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Friday, as coast guard ships from both sides accused each other of dangerous conduct in the contested waters.
The Philippine coast guard said Chinese vessels fired powerful water cannons at two of its fisheries ships, marking the third confrontation in the strategic waterway in a single week. It reported that a Chinese coast guard ship approached a government fisheries vessel, the BRP Datu Paduhinog, at a distance of seven metres (23 feet) in what it described as a reckless manoeuvre that risked collision.
Manila condemned the incident as “dangerous and unprofessional,” asserting that the shoal and its surrounding waters form part of the country’s territorial sea and exclusive economic zone.
Beijing offered a starkly different account. The China Coast Guard said it “took control measures in accordance with the law toward multiple Philippine vessels engaged in illegal activities” in waters off Huangyan Island, Beijing’s name for the atoll, reiterating its claim of sovereign control over the feature.
The Philippine coast guard said 12 China Coast Guard vessels and three Chinese maritime militia ships were involved in Friday’s encounter, underscoring the scale of the standoff.
The renewed friction coincides with Chinese military exercises in the South China Sea that are expected to continue until the end of the month. It follows a pattern of escalating incidents at the shoal, including earlier patrols by Chinese ships and aircraft around the disputed feature.
China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, a passage that carries a significant share of global trade, despite a 2016 arbitration ruling under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims. China has consistently rejected the ruling.
The clashes unfolded against the backdrop of annual ministerial meetings hosted by Manila, where foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met with Asian and Western counterparts in three days of closed-door talks. Maritime tensions in the South China Sea featured prominently on the agenda alongside conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground roughly 220 kilometres from the Philippine coast, has been a persistent flashpoint since China effectively seized control of it in 2012. Both governments regard the feature as central to their competing maritime claims.
With Chinese drills set to run through the coming days, further confrontations near the shoal remain likely, and the standoff is expected to keep straining relations between Beijing and Manila.