China says it fired water cannon at Philippine ships in South China Sea

China’s Coast Guard said on Tuesday it fired water cannon at Philippine ships near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, accusing Manila of an “illegal” intrusion and the ramming of one of its vessels.

BEIJING — China’s Coast Guard said Tuesday that it had fired water cannon at Philippine ships near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, accusing Manila of an “illegal” intrusion and the ramming of one of its vessels.

The confrontation comes a week after China approved plans to turn the shoal into a national nature reserve, a move that defense analysts have warned would test Manila’s response over the 58-square-mile triangular chain of reefs and rocks.

The Philippine coast guard in turn accused its Chinese counterpart of harassing vessels it said were on a humanitarian mission to support fishermen.

Tuesday’s encounter involved more than 10 Philippine ships, said Gan Yu, a spokesperson for China’s Coast Guard, accusing the vessels of having “illegally invaded China’s territorial waters of the Scarborough Shoal from different directions.”

In particular, he faulted Philippine Coast Guard vessel 3014, saying in a statement that it had “disregarded solemn warnings from the Chinese side and deliberately rammed a Chinese coast guard vessel.”