Chinese ship shoots water cannon at Philippine vessel with CNN crew on board near flashpoint shoal

Chinese ships fired water cannons at Philippine ships, including one carrying a CNN crew, near a dangerous flashpoint in the South China Sea on Friday; It was the third tense clash this week in the contested waters.

Aside from the rich fishing grounds in the lagoon and surrounding waters, there doesn’t seem to be much of note in the shallows. But this corner of the world is a deceptively worrying geopolitical hotspot.

Free access to one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes, a mutual defense treaty between the Philippines and the United States, and China’s steady push to solidify its claims over disputed territories mean that a single navigational error or misfire could trigger serious conflict.

CNN was granted exclusive access to a ship belonging to the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on a mission to refuel local fishermen near Scarborough Shoal, a sandbar claimed by both Beijing and Manila.

As Philippine ships approached the coast on Friday, several large Chinese Coast Guard vessels moved close enough for CNN crews to see the faces of the personnel on board.

“Leave here immediately… Otherwise, we will take harsh measures in accordance with the law,” the Chinese Coast Guard said through a megaphone. The Chinese ship constantly circled around the Philippine ship as the pressurized water hit the ship.

The South China Sea dispute has been overshadowed by wars elsewhere in recent years but remains a major potential flashpoint for global conflict. There are multiple governments It is vying for dominance over the waterway, a key economic corridor through which a third of global maritime trade passes each year.

Philippine ships canceled their missions and returned to the port on Friday, citing the typhoon developing in the region. Tensions eased significantly when their ships returned, but hours later Chinese Coast Guard ships still appeared to dwarf the Philippine ships.

In total, there were 15 Chinese ships belonging to the Chinese Coast Guard and its so-called “maritime militia”, Philippine officials later said. The Philippines had 10 ships, three of which were from the coast guard; A small Philippine government rotorcraft also buzzed low over the ships during the mission.

The Philippine Coast Guard said its ships “were subjected to a series of water cannon attacks and dangerous maneuvers by the Chinese Coast Guard.” It was stated that a Chinese ship came within seven meters (about 23 feet) of the Philippine ship where CNN was located, posing a “serious risk of collision”.

Meanwhile, Chinese state broadcaster reported that the coast guard “took enforcement measures in accordance with the law on Friday against a large number of Philippine ships engaged in illegal activities in waters under China’s jurisdiction around Huangyan Island, the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal.”

Asked by CNN’s Mike Valerio for a response to Friday’s incident, Beijing foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said it was “legitimate and legal for China to take the necessary measures to protect its rights and security, beyond professional standards and accusations.”

Also called Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines, this shoal is an uninhabited rock with a central lagoon, 140 miles (220 kilometers) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon and about 530 miles from China’s Hainan province.

China, the Philippines and Taiwan claim sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal; but China has effectively controlled the area since 2012, maintaining a near-constant coast guard presence in nearby waters.

Conflicts at sea

Frictions increased throughout the week.

The first was a conflict at Second Thomas Shoal, a rocky outcrop in the Spratly Island chain that Manila and Beijing also contest.

Philippines, stranded World War II. It maintains a small unit on shore with the World War II-era ship BRP Sierra Madre. On Monday, the Philippine military said the Chinese Coast Guard dispatched a smaller boat that approached the Sierra Madre. In response, the Philippines launched two rigid-hulled inflatable boats to escort the Chinese boat.

Philippine video shows eight Chinese soldiers on a boat crashing into a smaller Philippine ship. The blows appear to be made using wooden batons and shovels. According to the army statement, two Filipino soldiers were injured and evacuated for treatment.

Chinese officials later accused the Philippines of spreading misinformation and claimed that Philippine boats had “violently” attacked their personnel.

A second clash occurred a few days later: On Thursday, the Chinese Coast Guard said it had removed two Philippine ships it accused of “trespassing” in waters near Scarborough Shoal.

The Philippine military later said Chinese ships used water cannons and dangerous navigation techniques to thwart efforts to resupply Filipino fishermen around the shoal. No injuries were reported and the Philippine ships continued their missions.

The United States weighed in in both cases. Following Monday’s incident, the State Department condemned China’s “dangerous and aggressive” actions; On Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a similar tone.

“We have a role and we will not abandon our allies. We have made that very clear,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting in Manila.

The Philippines is a mutual defense treaty ally of the United States; This means Washington is legally obligated to come to Manila’s aid in the event of an attack on its territory or possibly on Philippine ships at sea.

The uncomfortable tension was clear even before Friday’s incident. As the 30-meter (90-foot) Philippine ship CNN sailed overnight in the pre-dawn darkness in the South China Sea, it was shadowed by a Chinese Coast Guard ship that was almost four times larger, measuring 111 meters (364 feet), reflecting the size and power of China’s naval forces.

disputed waters

The Philippines and China are not the only ones in dispute over territory in the 1.4 million square mile South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim some of the waterway’s 250 islands, reefs and atolls.

An international court ruled in 2016 that China had no legal basis to claim historic rights over large parts of the South China Sea. Chinese leader Xi Jinping rejected the decision at the time and continued construction, building military facilities, airstrips and man-made islands in the disputed waters, despite promising not to do so during a visit to the White House in 2015.

Control of these features and the waters around them has taken on even greater importance this year in light of events in the Persian Gulf.

After coming under attack from the United States and Israel, Iran managed to shut down the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, halting 20% ​​of the world’s oil trade and other supplies vital to everything from agriculture to computer chip manufacturing. Analysts worry about what damage a similar conflict in the South China Sea could cause to the world economy.

And such conflicts have become more common in recent years as Beijing adopts a more aggressive stance. During one particularly violent encounter in June 2024, Chinese Coast Guard personnel swung axes at Filipino troops and cut off their rubber boats.

According to a study by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), China has increased its coast guard presence; their ships spent 993 ship days around Scarborough Shoal in June alone; that was nearly as much as they spent in all of 2025.

The United States has also added ships to the region, moving U.S. Coast Guard ships stationed in Bahrain before the start of the Iran war to the eastern Pacific.

CNN’s Mike Valerio in Beijing, as well as Brad Lendon and Jessie Yeung, contributed reporting.

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