(UPDATE) THE Philippines said Monday it had summoned a Chinese envoy over "aggressive actions" by the China Coast Guard (CCG) and other vessels near a reef off the Southeast Asian country's coast, while Beijing lodged its own complaint.

Beijing and Manila have a long history of maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and there have been repeated confrontations between their vessels near disputed reefs in recent months.

This handout satellite image released by Maxar Technologies on March 24, 2024 and dated March 23, 2024 shows Chinese and Philippine ships in waters where the Philippines said the China Coast Guard blocked their supply vessel and damaged it with water cannon, during a Philippine supply mission near Second Thomas Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Philippines said the China Coast Guard blocked a Filipino supply vessel and damaged it with water cannon on March 23, causing injuries near a reef off the Southeast Asian country. Handout / Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies / AFP

The latest incident took place Saturday near Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the Spratly Islands during a regular mission to resupply Filipino troops garrisoned on the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded navy ship.

The Philippines said the CCG blocked its supply vessel and damaged it with a water cannon, injuring three soldiers.

The CCG has defended its actions, describing them as "lawful regulation, interception and expulsion" of a foreign vessel that "tried to forcefully intrude" into Chinese waters.

On Monday, China's embassy in the Philippines said it had complained to Manila over what it called its "illegal intrusion" into Chinese waters.

Ayungin Shoal is about 200 kilometers from Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometers from China's nearest major landmass, Hainan Island.

Manila conveyed its "strong protest against the aggressive actions undertaken by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines in Ayungin Shoal," the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday, using the Filipino name for Second Thomas Shoal.

It said the Philippine Embassy in Beijing also lodged a similar protest with the Chinese foreign ministry.

"In these demarches, the Philippines said, among others, that China has no right to be in Ayungin Shoal" because it lies within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf, in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and as affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Award, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

"China's continued interference with the Philippines' routine and lawful activities in its own exclusive economic zone is unacceptable. It infringes upon the Philippines' sovereign rights and jurisdiction," DFA spokesman Ma. Teresita Daza said.

"The Philippines demands that Chinese vessels leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal and the Philippine exclusive economic zone immediately."

It is the same location where there have been recent collisions between vessels belonging to both countries, as well as water cannoning by the China Coast Guard.

The Philippines has already filed 147 protests since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took power on June 30, 2022.

Cooling diplomatic relations

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines and a ruling in 2016 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that its claims have no legal basis and that they encroached on the Philippines EEZ.

The United States, which has a mutual defense pact with Manila, has denounced the attack.

It came days after visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States stood by its "ironclad" commitments to defend longtime ally the Philippines against an armed attack in the South China Sea.

Relations between Manila and Beijing have cooled under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as he seeks to deepen cooperation with the United States and regional neighbors while standing up to Chinese aggression toward Philippine vessels.

Chinese and Philippine officials agreed in January on the need for closer dialogue to deal with "maritime emergencies" in the South China Sea, including Ayungin Shoal.

But Manila said Monday that China's "aggressive actions call into question its sincerity in lowering the tensions and promoting peace and stability in the South China Sea."

"Even as the Philippines continues to engage China in dialogue and diplomacy at the bilateral and multilateral levels, China's aggressive actions contradict and put to waste Asean-China efforts to promote practical activities to foster peace and cooperation in the region," Daza said.

She said the Philippines has urged China to "take the correct track of abiding by international law and respecting the legitimate rights of other states like the Philippines and to cease and desist from its continued violation of international law, including the 1982 Unclos and the 2016 Arbitral Award."

In its counter-protest, China described the award as "illegal, null and void."

"China does not accept or recognize it and will never accept any claim or action based on the award," the embassy said.

Despite the attack, Philippine officials said the damaged vessel and a Coast Guard escort ship that came to its aid later deployed rigid-hull inflatable boats to deliver its cargo and personnel to the Filipino outpost.

Filipino soldiers stationed on the shoal live on the crumbling BRP Sierra Madre and require frequent resupplies for food, water and other necessities, as well as transport for personnel rotations.

Apart from supplies and equipment, the Philippine military said six navy personnel were delivered to the BRP Sierra Madre on Saturday, replacing one soldier who was recently evacuated on medical grounds.

The damaged supply boat and its escorts sailed back to port after completing their mission, the task force said.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. rebuffed China's warning on the potential consequences of the Philippine government's action in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

"China's propaganda is just propaganda. No one would believe it," Teodoro said. "No countries in the world would believe China's latest narrative because they're the one that is illegally entering our territory."

Sen. Mary Grace Poe said the Philippine government must hold the Chinese vessel "responsible" for the injury inflicted on Filipino troops when the Chinese used water cannons on them to stop their resupply mission in the West Philippine Sea.

"We deplore the latest water cannon attack by China on a Philippine supply vessel that injured our Navy personnel. This uncivilized action should stop. We must hold the Chinese vessel responsible for the injury inflicted on our troops," Poe said in a statement.

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