Chinese Coast Guard Fires Water Cannons at Philippine Ships in South China Sea

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Sep 17, 2025 - 09:53 Updated: Sep 17, 2025 - 09:47
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Chinese Coast Guard Fires Water Cannons at Philippine Ships in South China Sea

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China’s coast guard vessels fired water cannons against Philippine coast guard ships on Sept. 16 near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, in the latest flare-up between Beijing and Manila in an increasingly tense territorial conflict.

The Chinese regime’s coast guard said in a statement on Sept. 16 that it has taken “control measures” against several Philippine government vessels it accused of “illegally operating” near Huangyan Island.

Huangyan is the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal, a triangle-shaped coral reef in the South China Sea. Located approximately 120 nautical miles west of Luzon, the Philippines’ main island, the feature falls within Manila’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, according to international law.

Nevertheless, Beijing has maintained control over the shoal since 2012, as part of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) efforts to assert territorial claims over almost the entire South China Sea. The regime is currently planning to establish a natural reserve on the atoll.

In a separate statement on Sept. 16, China’s coast guard accused Manila of dispatching more than 10 government ships to intrude into its territorial waters near Huangyan Island from different directions.

Gan Yu, spokesperson for the regime’s coast guard, said the Philippine coast guard vessel 3014 ignored repeated warnings from the Chinese side, and “deliberately rammed” a Chinese vessel.

Manila confirmed the encounter, stating that its coast guard and fisheries vessels were on a mission to deliver fuel and supplies to Philippine fishing boats operating near the shoal when they met with “aggressive actions” from nine Chinese vessels, according to a statement from the Philippine coast guard.
The 3014 vessel was targeted by two Chinese coast guard ships, Jay Tarriela, spokesman for the Philippine coast guard, said in a separate statement later on Sept. 16.

One Chinese coast guard vessel deployed water cannons for nearly half an hour, resulting in “significant damage” to a Philippine ship, including to its bridge and the captain’s cabin, Tarriela said.

An individual aboard the Philippine fisheries vessel was injured by shattered glass caused by the water cannon, he added.

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An aircraft identified by the Philippine coast guard as a Chinese navy helicopter (L) flies near the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) plane during an aerial reconnaissance flight at Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Feb. 18, 2025. Jam Sta Rosa/AFP via Getty Images
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The incident is the latest flare-up in a longstanding territorial dispute between the two countries over Scarborough Shoal.

Tensions have escalated recently as Beijing approved a proposal to build a natural reserve there. A map released by China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Sept. 10 showed that the planned reserve covers almost the entire northeastern section of the shoal, drawing strong protests from the Philippines.
“The Philippines will be issuing a formal diplomatic protest against this illegitimate and unlawful action by China,” Manila’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Sept. 11. Beijing’s decision “clearly infringes upon the rights and interests of the Philippines in accordance with international law,” it added.

The United States, which has no sovereign claims in the sea, backed the Philippines in rejecting what it called the CCP’s “destabilizing plans” of setting up a natural reserve there.

“Beijing claiming Scarborough Reef as a nature preserve is yet another coercive attempt to advance sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Sept. 12.

The CCP’s actions continued to undermine regional stability, Rubio said. He called on Beijing to abide by the Arbitral Tribunal’s 2016 decision, under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, that China had unlawfully prevented Filipino fishermen from engaging in traditional fishing at Scarborough Reef.

Australia, Japan, Canada, and the UK also raised concerns over the CCP’s designation of a national reserve there.

The United States, Japan, and the Philippines conducted a joint exercise in the South China Sea from Sept. 11 to 13. The U.S. Navy said the drills demonstrated “a collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
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Reuters contributed to this report.
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