(Manila) The Philippines on Sunday accused the Chinese coast guard of trying to block a Philippine government ship supplying fishermen, the second such incident near an atoll in the South China Sea in two weeks.
These incidents occurred near the Scarborough Atoll, controlled by China, but over which Manila and Beijing claim sovereignty.
The Philippine boat, the BRP Datu Sandaywas supplying fuel to fishermen near the atoll when it was harassed by a Chinese coast guard vessel and three other Chinese vessels on February 22, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
Three of the four Chinese ships came within 100 meters of the bow of the Datu Sandaythey said in a report on the incident, also mentioning jamming of the ship’s transponders and other “dangerous maneuvers”.
“Despite these maneuvers, the captain of the BRP Datu Sanday demonstrated excellent maritime skills and managed to evade blockade attempts,” said Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for South China Sea matters.
A week earlier, the Philippine Coast Guard reported that this boat had had a similar altercation in the area.
Scarborough Atoll — a group of reefs and rocks — has been a hotbed of tension between the two countries since China took control of it in 2012.
Since then, Beijing has deployed patrol boats that Manila says harass Philippine ships and prevent Filipino fishermen from entering its fish-rich lagoon.
On social networks, the Chinese newspaper Global Times wrote on Saturday that the Chinese coast guard had pushed back the Datu Sanday “when the ship illegally entered the waters adjacent to China’s Huangyan Island”, using the atoll’s Chinese name.
Scarborough Atoll lies 240 kilometers west of the Philippines’ main island, Luzon, and nearly 900 kilometers from the nearest point in mainland China, Hainan.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea.
Last year, clashes between China and the Philippines over reefs claimed by both countries resulted in collisions and Chinese ships firing water cannons at Philippine boats.