Philippines accuses China Coast Guard of damaging its ship | DW News

Philippines accuses China Coast Guard of damaging its ship | DW News

the Philippines says Chinese vessels
have fired water cannon at two
Philippine Coast Guard boats in disputed
Waters in the South China Sea according
to Philippine authorities one of their
boats was damaged in the incident on
Tuesday the confrontation occurred after
China put up a barrier around fishing
Waters traditionally used by the
Philippines China claims most of the
region as its own dismissing rival
claims by the Philippines and other
countries they accuse be of ignoring
Maritime laws in the
area our correspondent James chater is
following this story for us from Taipei
James what more can you tell us about
this
incident well as you mentioned really
dramatic pictures emerging from the
South China Sea what we saw there is a
Philippine Coast Guard vessel surrounded
really on both sides by two Chinese
Coast Guard vessels fire what we
understand was pretty high water
pressure cannons at the Philippine
vessels and as you mentioned we
understand that that Philippine Coast
Guard vessel has sustained some damage
now we know that this incident took
place near the scarber shol this is a
rock formation or a reef in the South
China Sea which has really been front
and center of these ongoing Maritime
disputes between China and the
Philippines no country has sovereignty
over the scarber shol but it’s been the
center of ongoing Maritime disputes
given that China claims the scarber
shers within its so-called nine dash
line This is a stretch of water almost
the entirety of the South China Sea
which China claims as its own despite a
2016 Court ruling that it had no legal
basis to do so the Philippines for it
its part says these waters are part of
its exclusive economic zone uh and say
that China’s growing assertiveness in
this region impinges on the rights of
its fishermen uh and raises the prospect
of Confrontation in the South China SE a
c Waterway for global
trade this of course is not the first
time we’ve seen this kind of incident
what message is Beijing trying to send
with these confrontations in the South
China Sea
James well of course the key context is
that this this incident comes as the US
and the Philippines were undertaking
their largest annual military drills of
balak katana exercises also called
shoulder-to-shoulder with some 16,000
personnel taking part in those drills
which for the first time this year
includes Maritime drills taking place
outside of the Philippine territorial
Waters within its exclusive economic
zone um conducting drills very much with
altercations uh with Beijing like this
in mind um the critical context of
course underpinning all of this so is
that Washington is a mutual defense
treaty Ally of the Philippines and so is
treaty bound to come to the defense of
Manila should it come under attack by a
foreign Force this is something that
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr
has reiterated recently saying that if
the Filipino serviceman is killed in an
incident like like this this could be
something that triggers the mutual
defense treaty with Washington and so
really broad concerns that this latest
escalation in this ongoing saga of
Maritime disputes could be what brings
Washington and Beijing into direct
conflict real flash point as it were
James Chader and Tai thank you very much
much

The Philippines said on Tuesday that the China Coast Guard fired water cannons at two of its vessels, causing damage to one of them, during a patrol near the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

“This damage serves as evidence of the forceful water pressure used by the China Coast Guard in their harassment of the Philippine vessels,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said in a statement. “They were not deterred and will persist in carrying out their legitimate operations to support Filipino fishermen and ensure their safety.”

The China Coast Guard said the “vessels” had been expelled for waters close to Huangyan Island, which is China’s term for the Scarsborough Shoal.

One of the vessels belonged to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the other was from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

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#southchinasea #china #philippines