#south-china-sea

#south-china-sea

The Philippine coastguard, in a statement, said a Chinese coastguard ship fired its water cannon at the BRP Datu Pagbuaya, a vessel belonging to Manila's fisheries bureau, at 9:15am (01:15 GMT) on Sunday. Minutes later, the same vessel deliberately rammed the stern of the Philippine fisheries bureau vessel, causing minor damage to the boat. No crew members were injured, it said.

We sternly warn the Philippine side to immediately stop provoking incidents and escalating tensions in the South China Sea, as well as bringing in external forces for backing such efforts that are destined to be futile, the spokesperson said. Any attempt to stir up trouble or disrupt the situation will not succeed. Philippine maritime and military authorities have not commented immediately. The warning comes after the US Asia Pacific Command said in a statement that Japan, the Philippines and the US conducted joint maritime exercises in the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone from Thursday to Saturday to strengthen regional cooperation and support a free and open Asia Pacific region.

The two-day joint military deployment that kicked off on Sunday is likely to anger China, which claims nearly the entire key waterway and has separate territorial disputes with the two Asian countries.