Philippines, China trade accusations over confrontation in South China Sea

Philippine and Chinese coastguards have reported conflicting versions of a maritime confrontation around a contested shoal in the South China Sea, the latest row in a longstanding dispute between the two neighbours.

China's Coast Guard said four Philippine ships had attempted to enter China's territorial waters around the Scarborough Shoal.

Philippine ships had "dangerously approached" China Coast Guard "normal law enforcement patrol vessels", prompting China's "exercised control" over their counterparts, Liu Dejun, a Coast Guard spokesperson, said in a statement.

But the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Chinese navy and coastguard vessels had taken "aggressive actions" against a routine patrol by it and the fisheries bureau.

A Chinese coastguard vessel fired a water cannon and sideswiped a PCG vessel, while Philippine vessels faced "blocking, shadowing, and dangerous manoeuvres" from Chinese navy and coastguard ships, a PCG spokesperson said.

Water dispute

The incident follows a diplomatic spat in November after China drew baseline "territorial waters" around the shoal, which Beijing claims as Huangyan Island.

Manila and Beijing have sparred at sea this past year, including at the Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing patch.

Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal, which has angered neighbouring countries that dispute some boundaries they say cut into their exclusive economic zones.

China rejected a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that Beijing's expansive claims have no basis under international law.