MANILA, Philippines – Chinese coast guard vessels supported by naval vessels launched a new attack Wednesday in disputed shoals in the South China Sea, firing powerful water cannons and attacking Philippine patrols, Philippine officials said. They blocked the ship and caused it to skid.
U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Mary Kay Carlson said in a social media post that the Chinese government was “putting lives at risk” by interfering with Philippine maritime operations, citing China’s “illegal use of water cannons and dangerous operations.” ” was criticized.
“We condemn these actions and stand with like-minded friends, partners, and allies in supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Carlson said.
China claims virtually all of the South China Sea as its own territory, but its claims overlap with territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and high seas claims of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. Indonesia is also at odds with the Chinese Coast Guard, which supports Beijing’s fishing fleet.
Aaron Fabila/NTF-WPS (via AP)
Long-simmering territorial disputes between China and U.S. allies and other Asian countries are a delicate fault line in the regional rivalry between the United States and China. Although the United States has no territorial claims to the South China Sea, an important global shipping route, it has declared freedom of navigation and overflight, and the peaceful resolution of disputes, to be among its core national interests.
The US has warned that We have a duty to protect the Philippines.becomes a treaty ally if the Philippine military is attacked in the South China Sea.
China and Philippines accuse each other of maritime aggression
According to the Philippine Coast Guard and Department of Fisheries, three Philippine Coast Guard and Department of Fisheries vessels intercepted Filipino fishermen at Scarborough Shoal when several Chinese Coast Guard and Navy vessels approached and took “aggressive actions” after dawn. They were on regular patrols to protect them.
Chinese Coast Guard spokesman Liu Dejun said four Philippine vessels made a “dangerous approach” to a Coast Guard “regular law enforcement patrol vessel” at the Scarborough Shoal, which China claims as its own territory. He said the Chinese military had been forced to “crack down” in the area. Then I called Huangyan Island.
Liu said one of the Philippine vessels ignored the warning and performed a maneuver that “seriously threatened” the safety of the coast guard vessel.
“We warn the Philippines to immediately cease its violations, provocations and propaganda, otherwise the Philippines will be responsible for all consequences,” he said.
China has increasingly accused the Philippines and other Asian neighbors of violating its sovereignty in disputed offshore areas. Despite a 2016 international arbitration decision invalidating China’s historic claims to the waters around Scarborough Shoal, China has vowed to defend what it considers its territory.
Despite the Chinese vessel’s “reckless” operations, the Philippine Coast Guard and Department of Fisheries and Fisheries Resources said they renewed their “commitment to protect the rights and safety of fishermen within our maritime jurisdiction.”
“We remain vigilant in protecting national interests in the West Philippine Sea,” two Philippine law enforcement agencies said, using the Philippine name for the waters off the archipelago’s west coast.
Philippine Coast Guard Brigadier General Jay Tarriera said China’s maritime exercises were “not a standard law enforcement action,” adding that they “should be construed as an illegal invasion by a violator of international law.”
The latest collision in the South China Sea came after more than a month’s hiatus as a series of major storms prevented many Philippine fishing and commercial vessels from entering dangerous and rough waters.
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