Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons and blocked and rammed a Philippine fisheries vessel Sunday in the disputed South China Sea, where hostilities between the Asian neighbors have flared alarmingly at sea and spread into the air in recent weeks. China and the Philippines blamed each other for the tense confrontations in the high seas off Sabina Shoal, which has become a new flashpoint, where both have deployed coast guard ships on suspicion that either one may take steps to seize the uninhabited atoll. The Chinese coast guard said it took action against a Philippine vessel, which entered waters in the vicinity of Sabina and ignored warnings, leading to a minor collision, the AP reports.
A Chinese coast guard spokesperson said the Philippine ship sailed toward the Chinese coast guard ship "unprofessionally" and "dangerously," causing the two vessels to brush against each other. The Philippine vessel had journalists onboard to take pictures to "distort facts," Gan Yu said. "The responsibility is totally on the Philippines' side. We sternly warn that the Philippine side must immediately stop the infringement and provocation, otherwise it must bear all consequences," Gan said without elaborating on the measures that the Chinese side employed. The Chinese government claims nearly all of the South China Sea.
A Philippine government task force said a vessel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the BRP Datu Sanday, "encountered aggressive and dangerous maneuvers from eight People's Republic of China maritime vessels" while cruising to Sabina, causing its engine to fail and hampering its effort to provide diesel, food, and medical supplies to Filipino fishermen. The Chinese coast guard ships, backed by a navy ship, "made close perilous maneuvers that resulted in ramming, blasted horns and deployed water cannons," said the task force. The US expressed support for the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, per the AP. US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson posted on X that China's actions were "unsafe, unlawful and aggressive."
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