A group of Philippine fishermen have accused the China Coast Guard of shooting at their vessel in disputed South China Sea waters, Philippine authorities said yesterday.
Philippine officials said they were investigating the reported attack on the Princess Johann, which the crew said occurred near a Chinese-occupied section of the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) on March 27.
There were no casualties during the incident, authorities added.
“[The vessel] was reportedly fired upon seven times by a Chinese speedboat with seven Chinese coast guards on board,” the Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement.
The speedboat approached the Philippine vessel after it dropped anchor about 3.7km off the Chinese side of the Union Banks (九章群礁) atoll, it said.
“The crew hid and eventually cut their anchor line and fled the area,” the statement added.
Representatives at the Chinese embassy in Manila could not be reached for comment yesterday.
If confirmed, the incident would be the first hostile episode in nearly a year involving the two countries, which have seen warming relations since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was elected in the middle of last year.
Both the Philippines’ coast guard and military are investigating the incident.
“[Union Banks] is located inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone,” Philippine Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla said.
The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea grants coastal states exclusive rights to develop and exploit natural resources in the waters that extend up to 370km off their coasts.
However, China claims most of the South China Sea. In recent years, Beijing has been building up disputed reefs into artificial islands that can house military facilities.
Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim the Spratlys, either wholly or in part.
Reversing the course set by former Philippine president Benigno Aquino III, Duterte has sought to improve his nation’s relations with Beijing by adopting a nonconfrontational approach over their competing claims in the strategically vital waters.
Since then, Duterte said China has allowed Philippine fishermen to fish in waters around the Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島), another outcrop in the South China Sea that Beijing seized in 2012 after a standoff with the Philippine Navy.
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