Chinese Coast Guard Ship Fires Water Cannon At Logistics Ship In South China Sea, Philippine Foreign Minister: Illegal Action

JAKARTA - The Philippines condemns "in the strongest terms" the actions of three Chinese Coast Guard vessels blocking and firing water cannons at two Manila supply ships on their way to the Philippine-occupied atoll in the South China Sea, its top diplomat said on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin said no one was injured in the Nov. 16 incident at Second Thomas Shoal, but Philippine ships carrying food supplies for military personnel based there had to abort their mission.

"The actions of the Chinese Coast Guard are illegal," Locsin said in a statement, reminding China's public vessels are protected by the Philippines-United States Mutual Defense Treaty, citing Reuters Nov. 18.

Locsin said he had conveyed "in the harshest terms" to the Chinese ambassador in Manila "our anger, condemnation and protest over the incident."

Locsin warned of Beijing's "failure to exercise restraint, threatening special relations" between the two countries.

"China has no law enforcement rights in and around this region. They have to be careful and step back," Locsin stressed.

Manila considers the Second Thomas Shoal, located 105 nautical miles (195 km) southwest of the Philippine territory of Palawan, as a 200 nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). It has occupied the shoal since 1999 after deliberately landing a naval vessel on the reef.

China, which claims almost the entire South China Sea, says the reefs are part of its territory, but a 2016 decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in favor of the Philippines.

The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the media.

To note, China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have also filed competing claims to some or all of the islands.