MANILA – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Feb 11 accused Chinese vessels of “dangerous” manoeuvres during a nine-day patrol near a reef off the South-east Asian country’s coast.

The Philippine vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua was deployed in early February to patrol the waters around Scarborough Shoal – a rich fishing ground in the South China Sea – and ensure the safety of Filipino fishermen in the area.

The reef has been a flashpoint between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.

Since then, Beijing has deployed patrol boats that Manila says harass Philippine vessels and prevent Filipino fishermen from reaching the lagoon, where fish are more plentiful.

During the patrol, Chinese coast guard vessels “performed dangerous and blocking manoeuvres at sea against BRP Teresa Magbanua four times, with the Chinese coast guard vessels crossing the bow of the Philippine Coast Guard vessel twice”, the PCG said in a statement.

The PCG said its ship was “shadowed” by four Chinese coast guard vessels “on more than 40 occasions”.

It added that it also observed what it described as “four Chinese maritime militia vessels”.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The PCG also distributed food and groceries to 100 Filipino fishermen in 14 boats, the statement said.

Scarborough Shoal is 240km west of the main Philippine island of Luzon and nearly 900km from the nearest major Chinese land mass of Hainan.

Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which China helped negotiate, countries have jurisdiction over the natural resources within about 200 nautical miles from the shore.

The latest incidents come two months after tense stand-offs between China and the Philippines around disputed reefs in the South China Sea. During the stand-offs, there was a collision between vessels from the two countries, and Chinese ships blasted water cannon at Philippine boats.

China claims almost the entire area spanning the South China Sea, and has ignored an international tribunal ruling that its territorial claims have no legal basis.

Beijing continues to deploy boats to patrol the busy waterway, and has built artificial islands that it has militarised, in a bid to reinforce its claims.

Chinese and Philippine officials in January agreed on the need for closer dialogue to deal with “maritime emergencies” in the waterway. AFP