China sparks US fury as Beijing navy blasts water cannons on Philippines vessels

China sparked the fury of both the Philippines and the United States as the two nations condemned a high-seas assault by the Chinese coast guard.

The People's Liberation Army Navy is believed to have joined forces with suspected militia ships that repeatedly blasted water cannons to block three Philippine fisheries vessels from a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

Manila said the assault, one of the most aggressive this year, caused “significant damage” to the communication and navigation equipment of one of the three Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ships.

They said without elaborating that suspected militia vessels accompanying Chinese coast guard ships used a long-range acoustic device that could impair hearing, causing “severe temporary discomfort and incapacitation to some Filipino crew."

The South China Sea has long been a flashpoint in Asia that has put the US and China on a collision course.

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Beijing claims virtually the entire strategic waterway, but the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have also pressed their separate claims.

Territorial standoffs between China and the Philippines over a number of disputed offshore areas, including the Scarborough and the Second Thomas shoals, have been particularly heated this year.

Washington DC has warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines if Filipino forces, aircraft or ships come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

China has warned the US to stay away from what it calls a purely Asian dispute.

It has deployed ships and aircraft to closely shadow US Navy ships and aircraft, which periodically undertake freedom of navigation and overflight patrols in one of the world’s most hotly disputed seas.

A Philippine government task force that deals with the long-seething territorial disputes said Saturday it “vehemently condemns the illegal and aggressive actions carried out by the Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia against the civilian Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels."

They added: “We demand that the Chinese government take immediate action to halt these aggressive activities and uphold the principles of international law and desist from actions that would infringe on Philippine sovereignty and endanger the lives and livelihood of Filipino fishermen.

US Ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson condemned China’s “aggressive, illegal actions."

Carlson said: “This (Chinese) behavior violates international law and endangers lives and livelihood.

“We stand with our Philippine friends, partners, and allies in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

The Chinese Coast Guard said in a single-sentence announcement on its website that it “implemented control measures in line with the law” against three BFAR vessels that “intruded into waters adjacent to Huangyan Island,” the Chinese name for the Shoal.

In past faceoffs in the high seas off disputed shoals, Beijing's coast guard used a military-grade laser that caused Filipino crewmen temporary blindness and resorted to dangerous blocking and shadowing maneuvers.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has allowed a larger US military presence in local military bases under a 2014 defense pact partly to strengthen territorial defense amid China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters.

China has strongly opposed and expressed alarm over increasing deployments of US forces, warning that it would threaten regional peace and stability.

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