China continues to escalate its bullying in the South China Sea. Yesterday it fired water cannons at supply ships coming from the Philippines. 

China’s coast guard fired water cannons that damaged a Philippine vessel on Tuesday, marking the latest flare-up of violence between the two countries in the disputed South China Sea, Philippine authorities said.

The Philippine Coast Guard said the incident occurred as one of its ships and a fisheries agency vessel carried out a “legitimate patrol” near Scarborough Shoal, a Chinese-controlled rocky outcrop 130 miles (200 kilometers) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon and inside Manila’s exclusive economic zone.

Philippines ship getting blasted by water cannons of China Coast Guard vessel near Scarborough Shoal, South China Sea.

Chinese appear to be aiming at tricolor Philippine flag & ship's radar systems. pic.twitter.com/gWdAcBzPPE

— Clash Report (@clashreport) May 1, 2024

At one point two ships collided after a Chinese Coast Guard vessel cut in front of another ship to block its way.

🇨🇳🇵🇭Chinese Coast Guard ships used water cannons to successfully drive away a Philippine coast guard patrol ship that invaded Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

This is the first time China has used water cannon directly on a Philippine coast guard patrol ship pic.twitter.com/R6ljFUCClG

— 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘦 (@OopsGuess) May 1, 2024

BBC reporters were on board one of the ships during the skirmish at sea.

The Chinese ships were determined to stop us, and there were a lot of them - at one point of time there were 10 of them from the coast guard and maritime militia.

The Filipino captain relied on the speed and manoeuvrability of his Japanese-made ship to outrun the Chinese, and got to within 600m of the shoal, the closest yet, he told us.

But there was a new barrier installed recently by the Chinese, just visible under the water. Their ships were right behind us, two positioning themselves on either side of the Filipino ship, at which point they began firing their powerful water cannon.

We were rushed inside, from where we could hear the jets of water thundering against the metal walls of the ship. They smashed the awning in the stern, and mangled a railing on one side.

The second ship in our convoy, carrying supplies for Filipino fishermen, was more badly damaged, after taking 10 direct hits from the water cannon.

In one of the videos here you can see the submerged barrier put in place by China.

It’s “only” powerful water canons as 🇨🇳 tries to restrict 🇵🇭 access to its claimed areas in the South China Sea, but the danger of escalation is obvious. pic.twitter.com/6mfLrAzdB9

— Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) April 30, 2024

We've seen all of this play out before. China has used the same tactics and the same barrier before. I've also showed a map like this before. It shows that Scarborough Shoal and another disputed reef called Second Thomas Shoal are far closer to the coast of the Philippines than they are to China.

The Spratly Islands are 65 miles, & Scarborough Shoal is 143 miles, from the PHL coastline, both within the 200 Mile PHL EEZ. Legal Basis is Art 55, in relation to Art 57, of the UNCLOS. The PHL is a State Party to the UNCLOS, having signed it in 1982 & ratified the same in 1984 pic.twitter.com/GxCZXTtdWo

— CyberDean07 ⚖️🧑🏻‍💻🏛️💼🤵🏻 (@cyberdean07) May 1, 2024

China's claim to these islands is based on their claim to the entire South China Sea, the so-called 9-dashed line. None of this is legal and in fact China has already lost in court but has chosen to ignore the ruling.