China Releases Own Video of ‘Dangerous’ Territorial Confrontation

Beijing has released a video showing the China Coast Guard’s confrontation with a Philippine patrol in contested waters Tuesday morning, though the footage notably showcases more restrained behavior than seen in Manila’s footage of the incident.

“The [China Coast Guard] was forced to use water cannons to warn the vessel, and this decisive move had an immediate effect,” Chinese state-run media outlet the Global Times wrote.

The clash occurred as Philippine Coast Guard cutter BRP Bagacay and fisheries bureau ship BRP Datu Bankaw sailed near traditional fishing ground Scarborough Shoal on a government mission to distribute fuel and food to local fishermen.

China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, including features like Scarborough Shoal that lie within neighboring countries’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs).

The Philippine ships were intercepted by Chinese coast guard and paramilitary Maritime Militia ships, which Manila said carried out “dangerous maneuvers and obstruction” in their efforts to drive away the patrol.

The video published by the Global Times shows the law enforcement agency deploying water cannons in waters adjacent to the “intruding” Philippine Coast Guard and fisheries bureau vessels in an effort to herd them away, without hitting the ships themselves.

Meanwhile, videos released by the Philippine Coast Guard show the Chinese vessels pummeling their Philippine counterparts with heavy water cannon fire. A Philippine government statement said the blasts inflicted superficial damage to both ships and that the Chinese ships had “rammed” the fisheries bureau multiple times.

The Philippine Coast Guard did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

China’s coast guard said Tuesday it had taken “necessary measures” to expel the Philippine boats “in accordance with the law,” including blocking maneuvers and “warnings with water cannons.”

Speaking at the Chinese foreign ministry’s daily news conference that same day, spokesperson Lin Jian called the coast guard’s conduct “professional, proper, and lawful.” He added that Second Thomas Shoal has “always been China’s territory.”

China’s embassy in the Philippines did not immediately respond to written requests for comment.

Scarborough Shoal sits about 140 miles west of the Philippines’ most populous island, Luzon, and nearly 700 miles from the nearest Chinese province of Hainan.

Chinese forces, which wrested the shoal from the Philippines in 2012, have been ejecting Philippine fishermen from surrounding waters, prompting Manila to start dispatching regular coast guard-fisheries bureau joint patrols in support of the anglers.

“The PRC (People’s Republic of China” used dangerous maneuvers and water cannons to disrupt a lawful Philippine mission providing food and fuel to fisherfolk within the Philippines’ EEZ, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

She added that the U.S. defense treaty ally can depend on U.S. support to “uphold freedom of navigation and international law.”