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 “important 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, based on Manila.
It was the most recent in a collection of confrontations between Chinese language and Philippine ships within the contested waters of the South China Sea, which Beijing claims practically in its entirety regardless of a world ruling in opposition to the declare.
Friday’s incident befell in a fish-rich space about 150km (93 miles) from the Philippine island of Palawan.
“On account 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 important harm from high-pressure water cannon blasts.”
In the course of the incident, a Chinese language boat additionally reduce the anchor strains of a number of Filipino vessels, endangering their crews, based on 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 legislation 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 the moment 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, nonetheless, defended its actions on Friday as crucial to take care of its “territorial sovereignty” over the Sabina Shoal, which it referred to by the Chinese language title Xianbin Jiao.
In an announcement, Chinese language coastguard spokesperson Liu Dejun mentioned the army’s vessels had taken “crucial 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 “below the pretext of fishing”.
Tarriela advised 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 assist 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 quick 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 both sides seeks to claim its territorial claims.
A separate incident on Friday befell on the Beijing-controlled Scarborough Shoal, identified in China as Huangyan Dao.
There, the Chinese language army mentioned that it had additionally “warned and expelled” a number of small plane from the Philippines that flew by way of what it considers its airspace.
In October, the Philippines additionally accused a Chinese language ship of deliberately ramming one in all 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 world tribunal sided with the Philippines, discovering that China’s claims exceeded lawful limits below the United Nations Conference on the Regulation of the Sea.
However China denounced the ruling and has refused to abide by it.
