3 Filipino fishermen injured in water cannon clash with China Coast Guard

Three Filipino fishermen were injured during a confrontation at sea after China Coast Guard vessels acted against Philippine fishing boats in a contested area of the South China Sea, according to Philippine authorities on Saturday.

Philippine officials said the incident occurred near Sabina Shoal, a fish-rich area about 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the island of Palawan. Beijing said on Friday that it had taken “necessary control measures” involving about 20 Philippine fishing boats in the area.

The fishermen “were targeted with water cannons and dangerous blocking manoeuvres”, a Philippine coast guard spokesman said in a statement on Saturday.

“Three fishermen sustained physical injuries, including bruises and open wounds. Two (Filipino fishing boats) also suffered significant damage from high-pressure water cannon blasts,” said Commodore Jay Tarriela.

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He added that small Chinese rigid hull inflatable vessels had also “deliberately cut the anchor lines of several (boats)”.

Escalating maritime confrontations

In a statement released on Saturday, the China Coast Guard said it had taken “necessary control measures against the Philippine vessels … including issuing warnings via loudspeaker and conducting external manoeuvring to drive them away”.

A video released by the Philippine side showed water cannon blasts crashing over small fishing boats. Tarriela told AFP that the high-powered streams had “destroyed wooden structures” on the vessels.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

The incident is the latest in a series of confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the disputed waterway, which Beijing claims nearly in its entirety despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

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In October, the Philippines accused a Chinese ship of deliberately ramming one of its government vessels in the Spratly Islands, an allegation Beijing rejected, blaming Manila for the incident.

A month earlier, one person was injured when a water cannon attack by a China Coast Guard vessel shattered a window on the bridge of another fisheries bureau vessel near the Beijing-controlled Scarborough Shoal.