This frame grab from handout video taken on June 17, 2024 and released by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs Office on June 19 shows China coast guard personnel (C) appearing to wield bladed weapons during an incident off Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. The Philippine military said on June 19 the Chinese coast guard rammed and boarded Filipino navy boats in a violent confrontation in the South China Sea this week in which a Filipino sailor lost a thumb. China defended its actions, with its foreign ministry saying on Wednesday that “no direct measures” were taken against Filipino personnel.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Chinese coast guard sailors brandished knives, an axe and other weapons in a clash with Philippine naval vessels near a strategic reef in the South China Sea, dramatic new footage released by Manila showed.

The clash took place Monday as Philippine forces attempted to resupply marines stationed on a derelict warship that was deliberately grounded atop the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert Manila’s territorial claims.

It was the latest in a series of escalating confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in recent months as Beijing steps up efforts to push its claims to the disputed area.

Philippine military chief General Romeo Brawner said the “outnumbered” Filipino crew had been unarmed and had fought with their “bare hands”.

A Filipino sailor lost a thumb in the clash, in which the Chinese coast guard confiscated or destroyed Philippine equipment including guns, according to the Philippine military.

Fresh footage released by the Philippine military late Wednesday showed small boats crewed by Chinese sailors shouting, waving knives and using sticks to hit an inflatable boat as a siren blares.

A voice speaking Tagalog can be heard in one clip saying someone had “lost a finger”.

Manila’s footage of the clash stands in stark contrast to photos released by Beijing’s state media on Wednesday, which did not show Chinese forces wielding weapons.

‘Violent confrontation’

Asked about the videos on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Manila’s comments on the clash were “totally bogus accusations that confuse black with white”.

He blamed the Philippines for the confrontation, saying they had “escalated tensions” and accused them of ramming Chinese boats.

Lin said the Philippine boats had been trying “to sneak in building materials, but also tried to smuggle in military equipment”.

Beijing has insisted that its coast guard behaved in a “professional and restrained” way and claimed “no direct measures” were taken against Filipino personnel.

But in a clip shared by Manila, a Chinese sailor standing on the deck of one of the boats can clearly be seen waving an axe.

Another shows a Chinese coast guard sailor striking the inflatable boat with a stick. A second man can also be seen stabbing the boat with a knife.

The Philippines military said an axe-wielding sailor had “threatened to injure” a Filipino soldier, while others were “explicitly threatening to harm” Filipino troops.

“The [Chinese coast guard] personnel then began hurling rocks and other objects at our personnel,” Manila said.

“They also slashed the [inflatable boats], rendering them inoperable.”

The Filipino sailors, wearing brown camouflage with helmets and vests, are not carrying weapons in the clips.

“Amidst this violent confrontation, the CCG [Chinese coast guard] also deployed tear gas, intensifying the chaos and confusion, while continuously blaring sirens to further disrupt communication,” the caption said.

Manila has accused Beijing of an “act of piracy” against its forces.

It has also demanded the return of items “looted” by the Chinese side, including seven guns, and reparations for damaged equipment.

‘Perilous’ situation

Analysts say Beijing is escalating confrontations with the Philippines in a bid to push it out of the South China Sea.

Jay Batongbacal, director for the Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea in Manila, told AFP that China’s forces could be poised to seize the grounded Philippine warship, the Sierra Madre.

“The deployment of their forces at present around the Sierra Madre and then the many reefs around the Kalayaan island group is indicative that they’re ready to do it,” he said, referring to Manila-claimed areas in the Spratly Islands.

The United States has said that “an armed attack” against Philippine public vessels, aircraft, armed forces and coastguard anywhere in the South China Sea would require it to come to Manila’s defence as a treaty ally.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken “emphasized that (China’s) actions undermine regional peace and stability” in a call with his Philippine counterpart Enrique A. Manalo on Wednesday, according to the State Department.

Blinken said they also “underscored the United States’ ironclad commitments to the Philippines under our Mutual Defense Treaty”.

Another analyst said the clashes “brought us perilously close” to a point where the United States would be required to intervene militarily.

“The Philippines will likely need to continue resupply missions to the Sierra Madre, one way or another,” said Duan Dang, a Vietnam-based maritime security analyst.

“Backing down and accepting Beijing’s terms regarding these operations would mean relinquishing sovereign rights within its Exclusive Economic Zone,” he said.

Huddled in the presidential situation room in February last year, senior Philippines officials faced a stark choice. Military and intelligence leaders watched as coast guard officers showed photos of what the agency said was a military-grade laser that China had pointed at a Philippines ship in disputed waters days earlier.

Eduardo Ano, the national security adviser and chair of the South China Sea taskforce, had to decide whether to release the pictures and risk Beijing’s ire, or refrain from aggravating his giant neighbour.

“The public deserves to know,” the retired general told the officials. “Publish the photographs.” The previously undisclosed meeting marked a pivotal moment, as Manila began a publicity blitz to highlight the intensifying territorial dispute in the South China Sea, where the ramming of ships, use of water cannons and ensuing diplomatic protests have sharply raised tensions.

“It was a turning point and the birth of the transparency policy,” National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya, who attended the meeting and recounted the exchange, told Reuters. “The goal was to eventually impose severe costs to Beijing’s reputation, image and standing.” Mr. Malaya said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr had directed officials to “civilianise and internationalise” the dispute, which they had achieved by using the coast guard and routinely embedding foreign journalists on missions. “This became an important component of building international support for the Philippines, because our audience is also foreign governments,” he added.

This account of the Philippines’ policy switch and its implications is based on interviews with 20 Philippine and Chinese officials, regional diplomats and analysts. They said publicising China’s actions, combined with Manila’s deepened military alliance with the U.S., had constrained Beijing’s ability to escalate matters at sea but raised the risks of Chinese economic retaliation and U.S. involvement. The February 2023 meeting occurred days after Mr. Marcos granted the U.S. access to four more military bases in the Philippines, rekindling defence ties that had suffered under his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.

“China has few escalatory options left without triggering the U.S.-Philippines mutual defence treaty and risking a military confrontation between Chinese and U.S. forces,” said Ian Storey, a security scholar at Singapore’s Yusof Ishak ISEAS Institute.

Mr. Marcos has also pursued a diplomatic offensive, gaining statements of support for the Philippines’ position from countries such as Canada, Germany, India and Japan.

The South China Sea is rich in oil and gas. About $3 trillion in trade passes through it annually. U.S. access to Philippine bases could prove important in a war over Taiwan. China, whose claims to most of the sea were invalidated by an international tribunal in 2016, says Philippine vessels illegally intrude into waters surrounding disputed shoals. It has warned Mr. Marcos, who took office in June 2022, against misjudging the situation.

“This is brinkmanship, poker,” said Philippine legal scholar Jay Batongbacal. “Brinkmanship is taking things to the edge, trying to see who loses his nerve. Poker is a game of bluffing and deception — one could be doing both at the same time.”

In response to Reuters questions, China’s Foreign Ministry said the Philippines had been stoking tensions with “provocative actions at sea in an attempt to infringe on China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights”.

China, it said, would defend its interests while handling the dispute peacefully through dialogue.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Manila’s transparency initiative had succeeded in calling greater attention to China’s “disregard for international law” and actions that endangered Philippine service members.

The spokesperson would not comment on the risk of U.S. military involvement but said the U.S. would support the Philippines if it faced economic coercion from China.

‘AWAKE AT NIGHT’

The conflict is over Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippine navy maintains a rusting warship, BRP Sierra Madre, that it beached in 1999 to reinforce Manila’s sovereignty claims. A small crew is stationed on it. Chinese ships have sought to block resupply missions, by encircling Philippine vessels and firing water cannons that in March shattered a boat’s windshield, injuring its crew. Manila released footage of the incident; China said it acted lawfully and professionally. In February, Philippine ships recorded Chinese counterparts placing a barrier across the entrance to Scarborough Shoal. This week, both sides traded accusations over a collision involving their vessels near Second Thomas Shoal.

Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela taunts Chinese officials and state media on X, sometimes posting drone footage of maritime clashes. “If I were doing anything incorrect, I would have been shut down,” he said.

Mr. Tarriela said the transparency drive had worked, by galvanising support for Manila while the threshold of China’s aggression had not changed, despite an increase in incidents.

“They are still depending on their water cannon … they are still stuck with that kind of tactic,” he said.

The number of Chinese vessels around Second Thomas Shoal during Philippine resupply missions has grown from a single ship on average in 2021 to around 14 in 2023, the Center for Strategic and International Studies said in January. Last month, China’s coast guard came within metres of the Sierra Madre and seized supplies air-dropped to troops stationed there, according to Philippine officials. China, whose navy patrolled nearby, said Filipino soldiers pointed guns at its coast guard; Manila said they just held their weapons.

Philippine officials say they fear a fatal accident could escalate into open hostilities.

“That keeps a lot of us awake at night,” the Philippines’ ambassador to Washington, Jose Manuel Romualdez, told Reuters.

Manila also wants to avoid the kind of economic pressure it faced around a decade ago, when protracted Chinese customs checks caused Philippine bananas to rot on Chinese docks.

China was the Philippines’ second-biggest export market in 2023, taking nearly $11 billion worth or 14.8% of all its shipments. China is the Philippines’ top source of imports, mainly refined petroleum products and electronics.

Mr. Romualdez said Manila hoped China would “see the value of continuing our economic activity while trying to peacefully resolve the issue”.

Edcel John Ibarra, a political scientist at the University of the Philippines, said Mr. Marcos risks provoking China into “a harder approach”, such as non-tariff barriers and tourism restrictions. He pointed to changes China announced in May that allow its coast guard to detain foreigners without trial for 60 days.

‘PARADIGM SHIFT’

The intensity of Manila’s campaign has surprised its neighbours. Vietnam and Malaysia, which also have maritime disputes with Beijing, have been more cautious about what they release from their skirmishes with China.

“We are all watching this and talking amongst ourselves,” said one Asian diplomat, who was not authorised to be named. “The Philippines has carved out a new strategy in standing up to Beijing over a point of friction.”

Mr. Marcos said in December that diplomacy with China had achieved little, calling on Southeast Asia “to come up with a paradigm shift”.

China’s state media have expressed irritation with the transparency push.

The Philippines has been “playing the victim to deceive international public opinions”, the state-backed Global Times said in an op-ed in May. A key aspect of Manila’s approach has been solidifying the U.S. alliance. Both countries made clear in May last year that their defence treaty also covers the coast guard. In April, Mr. Marcos participated in an unprecedented summit with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts.

A U.S. official involved in U.S.-China talks that month said Chinese officials have complained about these diplomatic breakthroughs behind closed doors, adding that Beijing was “feeling the squeeze”.

Some Chinese scholars, like Zha Daojiong, at Peking University’s School of International Studies, say the situation is at an impasse and that China will continue to be “essentially reactive” at flashpoints like Second Thomas Shoal.

“By responding to the Philippines’ action, I guess they want to keep the message that this shoal is in dispute,” he said.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles.
| Photo Credit: AP

Defence chiefs from the U.S., Australia, Japan and the Philippines vowed to deepen their cooperation as they gathered on Thursday in Hawaii for their second-ever joint meeting amid concerns about China’s operations in the South China Sea.

The meeting came after the four countries last month held their first joint naval exercises in the South China Sea, a major shipping route where Beijing has long-simmering territorial disputes with a number of Southeast Asian nations and has caused alarm with its recent assertiveness in the waters.

U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters at a news conference after their discussion that the drills strengthened the ability of the nations to work together, build bonds among their forces and underscore their shared commitment to international law in the waterway.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said the defence chiefs talked about increasing the tempo of their defence exercises.

“Today, the meetings that we have held represent a very significant message to the region and to the world about four democracies which are committed to the global rules-based order,” Mr. Marles said at the joint news conference with his counterparts.

Mr. Austin hosted the defence chiefs at the U.S. military’s regional headquarters, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, at Camp H.M. Smith in the hills above Pearl Harbour.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Austin had separate bilateral meetings with Australia and Japan followed by a trilateral meeting with Australia and Japan.

Defence chiefs from the four nations held their first meeting in Singapore last year.

The U.S. has decades-old defence treaties with all three nations.

The U.S. lays no claims to the South China Sea, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls freedom of navigation operations that have challenged China’s claims to virtually the entire waterway. The U.S. says freedom of navigation and overflight in the waters is in America’s national interest.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich sea. Beijing has refused to recognise a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds.

Skirmishes between Beijing and Manila in particular have flared since last year. Earlier this week, Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons at two Philippine patrol vessels off off Scarborough Shoal, damaging both.

The repeated high-seas confrontations have sparked fears of a larger conflict that could put China and the United States on a collision course. The U.S. has warned repeatedly that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines — its oldest treaty ally in Asia — if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

President Joe Biden’s administration has said it aims to build what it calls a “latticework” of alliances in the Indo-Pacific even as the U.S. grapples with the Israel-Hamas war and Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Beijing says the strengthening of U.S. alliances in Asia is aimed at containing China and threatens regional stability.

Members of the media take footage of a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocking a Philippine Coast Guard vessel on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

The Philippines on April 27 denied a Chinese claim that the two countries had reached an agreement over an escalating maritime dispute in the South China Sea, calling the claim propaganda.

A spokesperson at China’s embassy in Manila said on April 18 that the two had agreed early this year to a “new model” in managing tensions at the Second Thomas Shoal, without elaborating.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said on April 27 his department was “not aware of, nor is it a party to, any internal agreement with China” since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr took office in 2022. Defence department officials have not spoken to any Chinese officials since last year, Mr. Teodoro said in a statement.

China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Teodoro’s comments outside office hours.

Beijing and Manila have repeatedly clashed in recent months at the submerged reef, which Philippines says is in its exclusive economic zone but which China also claims.

The Philippines had accused China of blocking manoeuvres and firing water cannons at its vessels to disrupt supply missions to Filipino soldiers stationed in a naval ship which Manila deliberately grounded in 1999 to bolster its maritime claims.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its claims overlap with those of the Philippines and four other nations. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said China’s claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing rejects.

Mr. Teodoro called China’s claims of a bilateral agreement “part of the Chinese propaganda”, adding that the Philippines would never enter into any agreement that would compromise its claims in the waterway.

“The narrative that unnamed or unidentified Chinese officials are propagating is another crude attempt to advance a falsehood,” he said.

The United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines will hold their first joint naval exercises, including anti-submarine warfare training, in a show of force Sunday, April 7, 2024 in the South China Sea where Beijing’s aggressive actions to assert its territorial claims have caused alarm. File
| Photo Credit: AP

China conducted military “combat patrols” April 7 in the disputed South China Sea, its army said, the same day as joint drills by the Philippines, the United States, Japan and Australia.

The announcement comes one day after defence chiefs from four countries including the Philippines — which has been engaged in several contentious maritime disputes with Beijing recently — said they would conduct joint drills on April 7 in the area.

Also read: South China Sea | Asia’s disputed waters 

Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command said it was organising “joint naval and air combat patrols in the South China Sea”. “All military activities that mess up the situation in the South China Sea and create hotspots are under control,” it said in a statement, in an apparent swipe at the other drills being held in the waters. Further details about the Chinese military activities in the waterway were not announced.

Competing claims on South China sea

The exercises take place days before U.S. President Joe Biden is due to hold the first trilateral summit with the leaders of the Philippines and Japan. Top US officials have repeatedly declared the United States’ “ironclad” commitment to defending the Philippines against an armed attack in the South China Sea — to the consternation of Beijing.

China claims territorial sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea and has been increasingly assertive in the region in recent years.

China’s Coast Guard, on April 6, said it had “handled” a situation on Thursday at a disputed reef where several ships from the Philippines were engaged in “illegal” operations.

“Under the guise of ‘protecting fishing’, Philippine government ships have illegally violated and provoked, organised media to deliberately incite and mislead, continuing to undermine stability in the South China Sea,” spokesman Gan Yu said. “We are telling the Philippines that any infringement tactics are in vain,” Mr. Gan said, adding that China would “regularly enforce the law in waters under (its) jurisdiction”.

Beijing has brushed aside competing territorial claims by several Southeast Asian countries in the South China Sea — a crucial route for global trade — as well as an international ruling that declared its stance baseless.

The drills conducted Sunday by the Philippines, United States, Japan and Australia are intended to “(ensure) that all countries are free to fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows,” US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a joint statement.

Named the “Maritime Cooperative Activity”, the drills will include naval and air force units from all four countries, the joint statement said. There were no details in the statement on what the drills would precisely include.

The Japanese embassy in Manila said in a statement that “anti-submarine warfare training” would be included in the drills. Last week, Australian warship HMAS Warramunga arrived at the Philippine island of Palawan, which faces the hotly contested waters.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos issued a strongly worded statement on March 28, vowing the country would not be “cowed into silence, submission, or subservience” by China. Talks between the Philippines and Japan for a defence pact that would allow the countries to deploy troops on each other’s territory were “still ongoing”, a spokesman for the Philippine foreign affairs department told reporters last week. Manila already has a similar agreement with Australia and the United States.

In this screen grab from video provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, a Chinese coast guard ship uses water cannons on a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 as it approaches Second Thomas Shoal, locally called Ayungin shoal, at the disputed South China Sea on Saturday, March 23, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The Philippines lodged its “strongest protest” against Beijing on March 25 and summoned a senior Chinese diplomat over a water cannon assault by the Chinese coast guard that injured Filipino navy crew members and heavily damaged their boat in the disputed South China Sea, officials said.

Two Chinese coast guard ships hit a Philippine navy-operated supply boat with water cannons Saturday in the latest and most serious confrontation between the rival Asian claimants near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, which is surrounded by Chinese vessels in a bid to dislodge Philippine forces from there.

The repeated high-seas confrontations since last year have sparked fears of a larger conflict that could put China and the United States on a collision course. The U.S. has warned repeatedly that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines — its oldest treaty ally in Asia — if Filipino forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

The United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia and about 16 other countries have expressed support to the Philippines and the rule of law, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila.

China accused Philippine vessels of “intruding” into Chinese waters and its Defence Ministry warned on March 24 that Beijing will continue to take “resolute and decisive measures to firmly safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.”

The Chinese Embassy in Manila issued a statement by the Chinese coast guard that warned the Philippines against “playing with fire.”

Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Theresa Lazaro in a phone call with her Chinese counterpart expressed “the Philippines’ strongest protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China coast guard and Chinese maritime militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

It added that it separately summoned a senior Chinese diplomat in Manila to convey the protest and demand that Chinese ships immediately leave the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, which lies in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, and for China to stop violating international law.

Philippine defence, security and foreign affairs officials convened a meeting Monday to discuss new steps to deal with what they say is China’s unacceptable and provocative actions in the South China Sea. Their recommendations would be submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and were not immediately released to the public.

EDITORIAL | Troubled waters: On the tensions between China and the Philippines

Second Thomas Shoal has been occupied by a small contingent of Philippine navy and marines on a marooned warship since 1999, but has been surrounded by Chinese coast guard and other vessels in an increasingly tense standoff. It’s the second time the Philippine supply boat has been damaged by water cannon in March.

The U.S. lays no claims to the busy seaway, a key global trade route, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls freedom of navigation operations that have challenged China’s claims to virtually the entire South China Sea. Beijing says the strengthening of U.S. alliances in Asia, including with the Philippines, is aimed at containing China and threatens regional stability.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway. Beijing has refused to recognize a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds.

A member of Philippine Coast Guard personnel hands out supplies to the people onboard a rigid hull inflatable boat during a resupply mission in the South China Sea, March 23, 2024. Photo: Armed Forces of the Philippines/Handout via Reuters
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Chinese coast guard ships hit a Philippine supply boat with water cannons on March 23 in the latest confrontation near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, causing injuries to its navy crew members and heavy damage to the wooden vessel, Philippine officials said.

The United States and Japan immediately expressed their support to the Philippines, as well as alarm over Chinese forces’ aggression off the Second Thomas Shoal, which has been the scene of repeated confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels over the past year.

The far-flung shoal has been occupied by a small contingent of Philippine navy and marines on a marooned warship since 1999, but has been surrounded by Chinese coast guard and suspected militia vessels in an increasingly tense territorial standoff. It’s the second time the Philippine boat Unaizah May 4 has been damaged by the Chinese coast guard’s water cannon assault in March alone.

The repeated high-seas confrontations have sparked fears they could degenerate into a larger conflict that could bring China and the United States into a collision.

Washington lays no claims to the busy seaway, a key global trade route, but has deployed Navy ships and fighter jets in what it calls “freedom of navigation” operations, which China has criticized.

The U.S. has also warned repeatedly that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines — its oldest treaty ally in Asia — if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

Escorted by two Philippine coast guard ships, the Unaizah May 4 was en route to deliver supplies and a fresh batch of Filipino sailors to the territorial outpost in the shoal at dawn on March 23 when they were blocked and surrounded by Chinese coast guard ships and suspected militia vessels.

“Their reckless and dangerous actions culminated with the water cannoning of Unaizah May 4, causing severe damage to the vessel and injuries to Filipinos onboard,” a Philippine government task force dealing with the territorial conflicts said without elaborating.

The two Philippine coast guard patrol ships maneuvered through the Chinese blockade to treat the injured Filipino crew members and tow the disabled supply boat away. Another motorboat managed to transport the new batch of Filipino sailors and supplies to the Philippine outpost in the shallows of the shoal despite the Chinese coast guard’s attempt to block them by placing a floating barrier in the waters, Philippine officials said.

EDITORIAL | Troubled waters: On the tensions between China and the Philippines

The hostilities dragged on for about 8 hours, they said.

“The Philippines will not be deterred — by veiled threats or hostility — from exercising our legal rights over our maritime zones,” the government task force said in a statement. “We demand that China demonstrate in deeds and not in words that it is a responsible and trustworthy member of the international community.”

Chinese coast guard spokesperson Gan Yu said the Philippine vessels intruded into what he said was China’s territorial waters despite repeated warnings. “The China coast guard implemented lawful regulation, interception and expulsion in a reasonable and professional manner,” Gan said.

Washington’s ambassador to Manila, MaryKay Carlson, said that “the U.S. stands with the Philippines against the PRC’s repeated dangerous maneuvers and water cannons to disrupt” the Philippine coast guard’s “lawful activities” in Manila’s exclusive economic zone.

Japan’s ambassador-designate to Manila, Endo Kazuya, reiterated his country’s “grave concern on the repeated dangerous actions by the Chinese coast guard in the South China Sea, which resulted in Filipino injuries.”

Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway, which Beijing continues to claim virtually in its entirety despite a 2016 international arbitration ruling that invalidated its expansive claims on historical grounds.

Video released by the Philippine military shows two Chinese coast guard ships hitting the smaller wooden-hulled boat Unaiza May 4 with high-pressure water cannon sprays at close range, causing the boat to shift in the high seas.

Chinese coast guard previously blasted the Unaizah May 4 with high-pressure water cannons in a confrontation near the Second Thomas Shoal on March 5, shattering its windshield and slightly injuring a Filipino admiral and four of his men with glass shards and splinters of debris.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila summoned China’s deputy ambassador after the March 5 confrontation to convey a protest against the Chinese coast guard’s actions, which it said were unacceptable.