BEIJING/MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines accused China’s coast guard on Tuesday of harassing and damaging one of its boats in a disputed area of the South China Sea, and rejected Beijing’s position that it had expelled two ships from the hotly contested shoal.
The Philippine Coast Guard said its two ships held firm at Scarborough Reef, a key battleground in the South China Sea, but one was damaged by the use of cannons. water by two Chinese coast guard vessels.
“This damage is evidence of the high water pressure used by the Chinese Coast Guard to harass Philippine vessels,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela said in a statement.
“They have not been deterred and will continue to conduct their legitimate operations to support Filipino fishermen and ensure their safety.”
No country has sovereignty over the strategically located Scarborough Reef, a favored fishing ground used by several countries and close to major shipping lanes. The shoal lies within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
China has occupied the atoll for more than a decade and the waters around its lagoon, which has long been a sanctuary for ships during storms, have been the scene of multiple clashes in recent years.
China’s coast guard said the vessels had been expelled, but did not provide details of the incident.
Filipino Tarriela said his ship, the BRP Bagacay, suffered damage to the rail and canopy and that China had installed a floating barrier at the entrance to the shoal, “effectively restricting access to the area “.
The two countries have exchanged accusations of illegal conduct on the shoal and the Philippines recently summoned a Chinese diplomat to explain what it calls aggressive maneuvers. China generally accuses the Philippines of encroaching on its territory.
China and the Philippines have previously said they would seek to improve communications and management of skirmishes in the vast South China Sea, but tensions have risen recently as the Philippines forges stronger diplomatic and military ties with their ally the United States.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, a channel for more than $3 trillion in annual maritime trade, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China’s broad claim had no legal basis, a ruling that Beijing rejected.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom and Mikhail Flors and Neil Jerome Morales in Manila; writing by Bernard Orr and Mikhail Flores; editing by Christopher Cushing and Michael Perry, Martin Petty)
