Manila summoned a senior Chinese envoy on Thursday to protest a water cannon incident that damaged two Philippine vessels during a patrol in the South China Sea.
A Coast Guard vessel and another government boat were damaged in the April 30 incident near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, according to the Philippines’ foreign ministry.
Zhou Zhiyong, the number two official at the Chinese Embassy, was summoned by Manila over “the harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing and blocking dangerous maneuvers, use of water cannons, and other aggressive actions of China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia vessels,” according to a statement from the foreign ministry.
“China’s aggressive actions, particularly its water cannon use, caused damage” to the Philippines’ vessels, the ministry added, demanding that the Chinese boats immediately leave the shoal and its vicinity.
The Philippines said the pressure in Tuesday’s water cannon incident was far more powerful than anything previously used, and that it tore or bent metal sections and equipment on the Philippine vessels.
Manila and Beijing have a long history of territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and the neighbors have been involved in several maritime incidents in recent months as they assert their rival claims in the strategic waterway.
The latest, near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal, occurred during a mission to resupply Filipino fishermen.
Thursday’s diplomatic protest was the 20th lodged by Manila this year, and 153rd since President Ferdinand Marcos came to power in mid-2022, the foreign ministry said.
