Manila has accused the Chinese coast guard and maritime militia of repeatedly firing water cannons at its resupply boats, causing "serious engine damage" to one, and "deliberately" ramming another.Â
Philippine Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Romeo Brawner said he was onboard a vessel that was both sprayed with a water cannon and rammed.
"This is a serious escalation on the part of the agents of the People's Republic of China," Jonathan Malaya, spokesperson of the National Security Council, said in a news conference where officials showed images and videos of both the water cannons and ramming.
Brawner told Philippine radio station DZBB that he was unhurt by the water cannon incident and that he does not believe China knew he was onboard the boat.
The Philippines has filed diplomatic protests and has summoned China's ambassador over its "aggressive" actions in the South China Sea, which a foreign ministry official said were a "threat to peace, good order and security,"
The maritime confrontation between the Philippines and China during the weekend comes less than a month after leaders of both nations met at the sidelines of an economic summit in San Francisco to formulate ways forward in the South China Sea.
"There is a dissonance between what is being said and promised with what's happening in the waters," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teresita Daza said in the same briefing.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has increasingly complained about China's "aggressive" behaviour, and he has sought closer ties with its treaty ally the United States.
China claims sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea, pointing to a line on its maps that cuts into the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Taiwan, which China also claims as part of its territory, has said it does not accept Beijing's maps.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said the line on China's maps had no legal basis, a ruling the United States supports, but Beijing rejects.
The US has called out China for interfering in the Philippines' maritime operations and undermining regional stability, and urged Beijing to stop "its dangerous and destabilising conduct" in the strategic waters.
A commentary piece in China's official military newspaper urged the Philippines to immediately stop its violations, strictly control its provocative actions, and "refrain from shooting itself in the foot".
It added that "some hegemonic countries" have resorted to "instigating trouble, creating division and inciting confrontation" in the South China Sea, and that those countries "openly endorsed" illegal infringement and provocation by the Philippines.
