The Philippines will refrain from using water cannons against Chinese coast guard ships, despite the increasing incidence of their use by China against Philippine ships in the South China Sea (SCS). This was stated by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
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“We will not follow the example of the Chinese coast guard, since it is not the task of our navy or coast guard to create or aggravate tension. We defend our sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea (Philippine name for the South China Sea) , and we have no intention of attacking anyone with water cannons or any other similar actions,” the president said.
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The Chinese Coast Guard has recently begun to increasingly use water cannons against Philippine vessels in the area of the Ayungin and Scarborough reefs in the South China Sea. The most recent such incident occurred on April 30, in which the Philippine ship BRP Bagacay had its railing damaged. On March 5, the Philippine Coast Guard said its ship was damaged in a collision with a Chinese coast guard ship in the South China Sea near a disputed reef, injuring four people. Beijing blamed the incident on Manila.
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For several decades, China has been engaged in disputes with several countries over the territorial ownership of individual islands in the South China Sea, on the shelf of which significant hydrocarbon reserves have been discovered. First of all, we are talking about the Xisha archipelago (Paracel Islands), the Nansha Islands (Spratlys) and Huangyan (Scarborough Reef), these disputes concern Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia and Philippines.
