China has been deploying what looks to be its weapon of choice in dealing with an increasingly assertive Philippines in the South China Sea: water cannons.
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Beijing has used them on Philippine vessels in the South China Sea at least six times since August last year, with the latest incident taking place in the morning of March 23. The latest encounter between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea — witnessed by a group of journalists including from Bloomberg News on a trip arranged by the Philippine Coast Guard — shows how China has leaned on water cannons to counter the Philippines’ growing assertiveness in the South China Sea.
Filipino journalists witnessed the scene on board a Philippine Coast Guard vessel, as another Chinese ship tried to block the view. After almost an hour, the forceful water spray stopped. Marcos’s government has taken a more assertive stance on the maritime spat with China by protesting and publicizing what it describes as Beijing’s harassment. The Philippine leader said last week that the nation’s increased activity was a “response to an increasing threat,” while reiterating the country doesn’t accept China’s sweeping sea claims dashed by a 2016 arbitral ruling.
“When you talk about the mutual defense treaty, to invoke that, actual outright violent conflict, then this is a very, very dangerous, very, very slippery road to go down,” Marcos said last week. While the US has been “very supportive,” the Philippine president said “it is dangerous for one to think in terms of when something goes wrong, we’ll run to big brother.”
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