China and the Philippines trade blame in the latest fight in the South China Sea

On Tuesday, the Philippines said that China’s coast guard fired water cannons at government ships that were taking supplies to fishermen at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea. However, Beijing said that its “control measures” were necessary because the boats were in its waters.

The two countries had their most recent fight over the Scarborough Shoal, a fishing spot in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone that China claims as its own.

“We urge the Philippines to stop its violations right away,” Liu Dejun, a spokesman for China’s coast guard, said in a statement.

China said that two Philippine ships “invaded the waters” near Scarborough Shoal, which led to “control measures” on the Chinese side.

The Philippine fisheries bureau said that its ships were on a routine trip to resupply fishermen when three Chinese coast guard (CCG) ships and a People’s Liberation Army-Navy ship came up behind them and followed their every move.

A statement said, “The CCG vessels tried to get in the way of the mission but were unable to do so.” “The CCG vessels also opened and directed their water cannons, but this failed to reach the Philippine civilian boats.”

It was also said that the Philippine ships were the Datu Cabaylo and the Datu Sunday.

The Scarborough Shoal, named after a British ship that ran aground on the atoll almost 300 years ago, is one of the most disputed maritime features in Asia and a source of international tensions over fishing rights and sovereignty.

China says it owns almost the whole South China Sea, which includes places that Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam also say they own.

The event happened while leaders of the ASEAN group were meeting in Laos for a summit. The Philippines was planning to bring up the problem of tension in the South China Sea.