Uh oh Genie, don't look now!
Chinese coast guard rams and damages a Philippine vessel in South China Sea
Chinese coast guard ships fired powerful water cannons Sunday and rammed and slightly damaged an anchored Philippine government vessel off an island inhabited by Filipinos in the disputed South China Sea, the Philippine coast guard said.
There were no injuries among Filipino crewmen of the BRP Datu Pagbuaya, part of the fisheries fleet that provides support to Filipino fishermen. The Chinese coast guard targeted Pagbuaya off the Philippine-occupied Thitu Island in the latest flare-up of the long-simmering territorial disputes involving Manila, Beijing and four other governments.
Two other Philippine fisheries vessels were hit with water cannons in Sunday's face-off at least 1.6 nautical miles from Thitu Island. There were no injuries or damage, Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said in a news briefing Monday.
The Chinese coast guard accused the Philippine vessels of illegally entering what it called Chinese waters near a cluster of sandbars known as Sandy Cay, which lies between Thitu and China’s artificial island base called Subi, and “ignoring repeated stern warnings from the Chinese side.” It said it “took control measures against the Philippine vessels in accordance with the law and resolutely drove them away.”
China has repeatedly reasserted its sovereignty and control over virtually the entire South China Sea, a major trade route, despite a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated its historical claims. That ruling has been rejected by China but supported by the United States and its Western and Asian allies, including Japan, Australia, the European Union and Canada.