South China Sea: China and Philippines at odds over Iroquois reef encounter

Name: Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of firing water cannons at its vessels in disputed waters
Uploaded: 2024-04-06T12:09:21.000Z
Duration: 2 min 13 s
Description: Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of firing water cannons at its vessels in disputed waters

Manila says two Chinese coastguard vessels ‘harassed’ Filipino fishing boats within its economic zone

The China Coast Guard says the Philippine vessels were government ships trying to undermine stability in the waters

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A Chinese coastguard vessel approaches a Philippine fishing vessel in the South China Sea on Thursday, in a photo supplied by the Philippine Coast Guard. Photo: handout via Reuters

Reuters

Published: 8:09pm, 6 Apr 2024

The Philippines and China traded accusations on Saturday over an encounter in disputed waters of the South China Sea, in an escalating row over a key waterway.

Manila said two Chinese coastguard vessels “harassed” Filipino fishing vessels within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, while Beijing said its vessels responded appropriately to illegal activities.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than US$3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration said in 2016 that China’s claims had no legal basis.

Beijing and Manila have been playing cat-and-mouse around the uninhabited Second Thomas Shoal in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone when the Philippines deploys resupply missions for Filipino soldiers living aboard an ageing warship deliberately run aground in 1999 to protect Manila’s maritime claims.

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Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of firing water cannons at its vessels in disputed waters

The disputed shoal is part of what are known internationally as the Spratly Islands and in China as the Nanshas. China’s coastguard said on Saturday that a number of ships belonging to the Philippines had “illegally” entered waters near a reef in the islands that Beijing has sovereignty over.