The Philippines has accused Chinese language coastguard ships of firing water cannon at Filipino fishermen close to a disputed South China Sea shoal, injuring three folks and inflicting “vital harm” to 2 fishing vessels.
On Saturday, the Philippine coastguard (PCG) mentioned that just about two dozen Filipino fishing boats had been attacked a day earlier, close to an atoll referred to as the Sabina Shoal that falls throughout the nation’s 200km (124-mile) Unique Financial Zone (EEZ).
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The fishermen confronted high-pressure spray from Chinese language water cannon, and Chinese language vessels tried aggressive blocking manoeuvres, in keeping with Manila.
It was the newest in a sequence of confrontations between Chinese language and Philippine ships within the contested waters of the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety regardless of a global ruling towards the declare.
Friday’s incident came about in a fish-rich space about 150km (93 miles) from the Philippine island of Palawan.
“Because of these aggressive actions, three Filipino fishermen sustained bodily accidents, together with bruises and open wounds,” Commodore Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the Philippine coastguard, mentioned in an announcement posted on Fb.
“Two [Filipino fishing boats] additionally suffered vital harm from high-pressure water cannon blasts.”
Throughout the incident, a Chinese language boat additionally reduce the anchor strains of a number of Filipino vessels, endangering their crews, in keeping with the Philippine coastguard.
“The PCG calls on the Chinese language coastguard to stick to internationally recognised requirements of conduct, prioritising the preservation of life at sea over pretensions of regulation enforcement that jeopardise the lives of harmless fishermen,” it mentioned in a separate assertion.
PCG Efficiently Renders Help to Harassed Filipino Fishermen at Escoda Shoal Amid Aggressive Actions by Chinese language Vessels
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) at present introduced the profitable deployment of its multi-role response vessels, MRRV-4403 and MRRV-4411, to the neighborhood… https://t.co/DW4eXgtjG3 pic.twitter.com/P2QOwRDjbB
— Jay Tarriela (@jaytaryela) December 13, 2025
China, nevertheless, defended its actions on Friday as essential to keep up its “territorial sovereignty” over the Sabina Shoal, which it referred to by the Chinese language identify Xianbin Jiao.
In an announcement, Chinese language coastguard spokesperson Liu Dejun mentioned the navy’s vessels had taken “essential management measures, together with issuing verbal warnings and expelling by exterior means, in accordance with legal guidelines and laws”.
Dejun accused the Philippine vessels of getting “intentionally intruded” on the shoal “beneath the pretext of fishing”.
Tarriela informed the Reuters information company that the Chinese language coastguard’s assertion amounted to an admission of wrongdoing.
In Saturday’s assertion, the Philippine coastguard added that the vessels it deployed to help the injured fishermen had been repeatedly blocked from reaching the Sabina Shoal.
“Regardless of these unprofessional and illegal interferences, the PCG efficiently reached the fishermen this morning and supplied instant medical consideration to the injured, together with important provides,” the assertion mentioned.
There was a historical past of clashes between Chinese language and Philippine vessels within the South China Sea, as either side seeks to claim its territorial claims.
A separate incident on Friday came about on the Beijing-controlled Scarborough Shoal, identified in China as Huangyan Dao.
There, the Chinese language navy mentioned that it had additionally “warned and expelled” a number of small plane from the Philippines that flew via what it considers its airspace.
In October, the Philippines additionally accused a Chinese language ship of deliberately ramming one in every of its authorities vessels within the Spratly Islands, the place Beijing has sought to claim its sovereignty claims for years. Beijing blamed Manila for the incident.
A month earlier, one particular person was injured when a water cannon from a Chinese language coastguard vessel shattered a window on the bridge of a fisheries bureau vessel close to the Scarborough Shoal.
China claims an space within the South China Sea that cuts into the unique financial zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, which all have competing claims.
In 2016, a global tribunal sided with the Philippines, discovering that China’s claims exceeded lawful limits beneath the United Nations Conference on the Legislation of the Sea.
However China denounced the ruling and has refused to abide by it.
