The National West Philippine Sea Task Force said in a statement that Chinese coast guard vessels used water cannons to obstruct government vessels delivering fuel and food supplies to fishing boats.
The incident occurred near the Scarborough Shoal, which is at loggerheads between Manila and Beijing, which claims almost the entire waterway.
A video released by the Philippine Coast Guard shows Chinese coast guard vessels firing water cannons at vessels belonging to the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
China has controlled the Scarborough Shoal since 2012.
Since then, Beijing has deployed patrol boats that Manila says harass Filipino boats and prevent fishermen from reaching the lagoon, where fish are more plentiful.
The Scarborough Shoal is 240 km west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 900 km from the nearest larger Chinese land area, Hainan Island.
Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which China helped negotiate, countries have jurisdiction over natural resources within about 200 nautical miles (370 km) of their shores.
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2024-08-15 16:54:59
