Chinese Coast Guard Blasts Philippine Boats With Water Cannons

Chinese coast-guard ships blasted water cannons at Philippine boats at least eight times near a contested atoll in the South China Sea, damaging equipment aboard one of them, as escalating tensions between the countries lead to more close encounters in the waters.

The incident occurred Saturday near Scarborough Shoal, which China seized from the Philippines in 2012. As three vessels from the Philippine government’s fisheries agency drew close—between 1.4 and 1.9 nautical miles from Scarborough Shoal—Chinese coast-guard ships sprayed water cannons at them, the Philippines said.