The Philippines is accusing China of seriously damaging one of its fishing vessels after a Chinese coast guard ship rammed it and blasted other ships with water cannons.
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00:00 Chinese Coast Guard ships blasting Philippine fishing vessels with water cannons in the
00:07 South China Sea.
00:10 One Chinese ship even rammed into a smaller Filipino vessel, causing severe damage according
00:15 to the Philippines Coast Guard.
00:17 These actions are just the latest in a back-and-forth territorial dispute between China and the
00:22 Philippines in those waters.
00:24 Officials in Manila, however, say the recent aggression is hitting new heights.
00:29 This is a serious escalation on the part of the agents of the People's Republic of China.
00:36 The use of water cannons numerous times, long-range acoustic devices, which caused severe, though
00:45 temporary discomfort and incapacitation to some Filipino crew, as well as dangerous and
00:53 unsafe maneuvers, is completely unacceptable.
00:57 The incident happened in the Scarborough Shoal, just over 200 kilometers from the Philippine
01:01 coast and one of the most contested areas of the South China Sea.
01:06 Beijing insists that it controls the entirety of the sea under its so-called nine-dashed
01:11 line claim, which has no legal basis.
01:14 But in a region which sees more than three trillion U.S. dollars in economic activity,
01:18 like fishing annually, countries are trying to stake their claims and control as much
01:23 of the sea as possible.
01:25 That's why Chinese officials are defending their actions and the use of water cannons.
01:30 "The Chinese coast guard is seriously infringing on China's sovereignty, and is threatening
01:33 the safety of Chinese ships and personnel.
01:36 China's coast guard is taking necessary measures against the ships of the Philippines
01:41 according to the domestic and international laws, and is operating professionally, with
01:44 restraint, reasonably and legally.
01:46 The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already issued a serious complaint to the
01:48 Philippines."
01:52 In recent months, China has sent more and more coast guard ships to the South China
01:55 Sea to assert its sovereignty.
01:58 It's also been focusing on "gray zone" tactics to try to enforce its claims without triggering
02:03 a broader conflict.
02:04 "China wants to keep the gray zone gray, and for them, use of a water cannon as a non-lethal
02:11 weapon is a gray area, right?
02:15 And I think what they believe is that this is a way to get their point across without
02:21 crossing the line of an armed attack against a U.S. treaty ally."
02:31 In response, the Philippines has been leaning more on its allies like the U.S. and Japan
02:36 to push back against China.
02:38 But analysts are concerned that the use of water cannons will become the norm as Beijing
02:42 ramps up its efforts.
02:43 "We are in kind of an escalatory cycle.
02:46 This is the first time we've seen water cannons used up there and against fisheries vessels,
02:52 not against coast guard or resupply.
02:55 To see the China Coast Guard water cannoning fisheries vessels is, I think, a new escalation
03:04 and something that's pretty troubling."
03:08 With this dispute escalating, the Philippines has to figure out how to handle the increased
03:12 aggression from one of the world's largest militaries.
03:16 Dolphin Chen in Hameokon, for Taiwan Plus.
03:18 on us.
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