Philippines accuses China of attempting to block another vessel

A week earlier, the Philippine Coast Guard said the BRP Datu Tamblot had a similar encounter in the area.

Scarborough Shoal – a triangular chain of reefs and rocks – 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 accessing a fish-rich lagoon there.

On social media, China’s state-run Global Times said on Saturday that the China Coast Guard had repelled the Datu Sanday “when the vessel illegally intruded into waters adjacent to China’s Huangyan Island”, using the Chinese name for the shoal.

Scarborough Shoal lies 240km (150 miles) west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 900km from the nearest major Chinese land mass of Hainan.

China claims almost the entire sea and has ignored an international tribunal ruling that its assertions have no legal basis.

Tense stand-offs between China and the Philippines around disputed reefs last year saw collisions and Chinese ships blasting water cannon at Philippine boats.