Philippines says fishermen hurt, boat damaged in China coastguard skirmish

The Philippines has accused Chinese coastguard ships of firing h2o cannon astatine Filipino fishermen adjacent a disputed South China Sea shoal, injuring 3 radical and causing “significant damage” to 2 sportfishing vessels.

On Saturday, the Philippine coastguard (PCG) said that astir 2 twelve Filipino sportfishing boats were attacked a time earlier, adjacent an atoll called the Sabina Shoal that falls wrong the country’s 200km (124-mile) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

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The fishermen faced high-pressure spray from Chinese h2o cannon, and Chinese vessels attempted assertive blocking manoeuvres, according to Manila.

It was the latest successful a bid of confrontations betwixt Chinese and Philippine ships successful the contested waters of the South China Sea, which Beijing claims astir successful its entirety contempt an planetary ruling against the claim.

Friday’s incidental took place in a fish-rich country astir 150km (93 miles) from the Philippine land of Palawan.

“As a effect of these assertive actions, 3 Filipino fishermen sustained carnal injuries, including bruises and unfastened wounds,” Commodore Jay Tarriela, a spokesperson for the Philippine coastguard, said successful a connection posted connected Facebook.

“Two [Filipino sportfishing boats] besides suffered important harm from high-pressure h2o cannon blasts.”

During the incident, a Chinese vessel besides chopped the anchor lines of respective Filipino vessels, endangering their crews, according to the Philippine coastguard.

“The PCG calls connected the Chinese coastguard to adhere to internationally recognised standards of conduct, prioritising the preservation of beingness astatine oversea implicit pretensions of instrumentality enforcement that jeopardise the lives of guiltless fishermen,” it said successful a abstracted statement.

PCG Successfully Renders Assistance to Harassed Filipino Fishermen astatine Escoda Shoal Amid Aggressive Actions by Chinese Vessels

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) contiguous announced the palmy deployment of its multi-role effect vessels, MRRV-4403 and MRRV-4411, to the vicinity… https://t.co/DW4eXgtjG3 pic.twitter.com/P2QOwRDjbB

— Jay Tarriela (@jaytaryela) December 13, 2025

China, however, defended its actions connected Friday arsenic indispensable to support its “territorial sovereignty” implicit the Sabina Shoal, which it referred to by the Chinese sanction Xianbin Jiao.

In a statement, Chinese coastguard spokesperson Liu Dejun said the military’s vessels had taken “necessary power measures, including issuing verbal warnings and expelling by outer means, successful accordance with laws and regulations”.

Dejun accused the Philippine vessels of having “deliberately intruded” connected the shoal “under the pretext of fishing”.

Tarriela told the Reuters quality bureau that the Chinese coastguard’s connection amounted to an admittance of wrongdoing.

In Saturday’s statement, the Philippine coastguard added that the vessels it deployed to assistance the injured fishermen were repeatedly blocked from reaching the Sabina Shoal.

“Despite these unprofessional and unlawful interferences, the PCG successfully reached the fishermen this greeting and provided contiguous aesculapian attraction to the injured, on with indispensable supplies,” the connection said.

There has been a past of clashes betwixt Chinese and Philippine vessels successful the South China Sea, arsenic each broadside seeks to asseverate its territorial claims.

A abstracted incidental connected Friday took spot astatine the Beijing-controlled Scarborough Shoal, known successful China arsenic Huangyan Dao.

There, the Chinese subject said that it had besides “warned and expelled” respective tiny craft from the Philippines that flew done what it considers its airspace.

In October, the Philippines besides accused a Chinese vessel of deliberately ramming 1 of its authorities vessels successful the Spratly Islands, wherever Beijing has sought to asseverate its sovereignty claims for years. Beijing blamed Manila for the incident.

A period earlier, 1 idiosyncratic was injured erstwhile a h2o cannon from a Chinese coastguard vas shattered a model connected the span of a fisheries bureau vas adjacent the Scarborough Shoal.

China claims an country successful the South China Sea that cuts into the exclusive economical zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, which each person competing claims.

In 2016, an planetary tribunal sided with the Philippines, uncovering that China’s claims exceeded lawful limits nether the United Nations Convention connected the Law of the Sea.

But China denounced the ruling and has refused to abide by it.