South China Sea: Beijing tells Philippines to remove grounded warship from disputed reef after latest clash in long-running territorial dispute

The Chinese coastguard defends its ‘restrained’ reaction after water cannons were fired at Philippine ships supplying marines in the Spratly Islands

Manila calls the actions ‘illegal’ and ‘offensive’ and summons the Chinese ambassador to protest

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The Philippine coastguard filmed the Chinese use of a water cannon against one of its ships. Photo: AP

Published: 6:10pm, 7 Aug 2023Updated: 8:37pm, 18 Dec 2023

Corrected [8:35pm, 18 Dec, 2023]

[8:35pm, 18 Dec, 2023]
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Second Thomas Shoal is located 120km (74.5 miles) from the island of Palawan. The reef is 190km (120 miles) from Palawan.

Beijing has urged Manila to remove an “illegally” grounded warship from a reef in the disputed Spratly Islands after an incident over the weekend in which Chinese coastguard ships fired water cannons at vessels supplying troops stationed there.

While Beijing defended the coastguard’s actions as “professional and restrained” on Monday, the Philippine government summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest about the incident on the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

The disputed reef – also known as the Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines or Renai Shoal in China – has been occupied by the Philippines since 1999 when a second world war-era warship was run aground on the atoll to assert Manila’s claims over the area.

Philippine ships regularly bring supplies to marines stationed on the vessel and last weekend’s incident was the first time Chinese coastguard have used water cannon against such supply missions since November 2021.

In another incident in February, the Philippines accused a Chinese ship of making “dangerous manoeuvres” and targeting one of its coastguard ships with a military-grade laser.

On Monday the Chinese coastguard said it had blocked the Philippine ships “in accordance with the law and took cautionary enforcement measures” and its actions were “professional and restrained, beyond reproach”.

A spokesman added: “In the event of repeated warnings being ineffective, in order to avoid collisions caused by direct blocking, water cannons were used as a warning.”