Philippines: Chinese coast guard used water cannons against its vessels for second day

Manila: The Chinese coast guard targeted Philippine vessels with water cannon blasts on Sunday and rammed one of them, causing damage and endangering Filipino crew members off a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, just a day after similar hostilities at another contested shoal, Philippine officials said.

The Philippines and its treaty ally, the United States, immediately condemned the latest confrontation near the Second Thomas Shoal, where two Philippine navy-operated supply boats and two Philippine coast guard escort ships had sailed to deliver food and other supplies to Filipino forces in a long-marooned navy ship that serves as a territorial outpost.

“We condemn, once again, China’s latest unprovoked acts of coercion and dangerous maneuvers against a legitimate and routine Philippine rotation and resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal that has put the lives of our people at risk,” a Philippine government task force that deals with the territorial disputes said in a statement, using the Filipino name for the shoal.

The Chinese coast guard’s high-pressure water cannon blasts disabled and severely damaged the engines of the Philippine supply boat M/L Kalayaan, which had to be towed back to the western Philippine province of Palawan, Philippine officials said, adding the action seriously endangered the lives of the crew.

One of two Philippine coast guard escort ships, the BRP Cabra, sustained damage to its mast due to the water cannon blast. Another supply boat was rammed by a Chinese coast guard ship but still managed to maneuver away and deliver supplies to Filipino marines at Second Thomas Shoal, they said.

Drone video footage and photographs issued by the Philippine coast guard show two Chinese coast guard ships separately blasting water cannons at close range at BRP Cabra and a smaller supply boat.

“The systematic and consistent manner in which the People’s Republic of China carries out these illegal and irresponsible actions puts into question and significant doubt the sincerity of its calls for peaceful dialogue,” it said.

“We demand that China demonstrate that it is a responsible and trustworthy member of the international community.”