China fires water cannon at Philippine ships; one injured

China’s Coast Guard said on Tuesday it fired water cannon at Philippine ships near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, and the Philippines accused Beijing of “aggressive” action that injured one person.

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The confrontation comes a week after China approved plans to turn the shoal into a national nature reserve, a move that defence analysts have said would test Manila’s response over the 150 sqkm (58 sq mile) triangular chain of reefs and rocks.

The Philippine coast guard in turn accused its Chinese counterpart of harassing vessels it said were on a humanitarian mission to support fishermen.

Tuesday’s encounter involved more than 10 Philippine ships, said Gan Yu, a spokesperson for China’s Coast Guard, accusing the vessels of having “illegally invaded China’s territorial waters of the Scarborough Shoal from different directions”.