BEIJING — China’s Coast Guard announced Thursday that it monitored and expelled two Philippine vessels it accused of entering disputed waters near Scarborough Shoal without authorization, marking the second South China Sea incident between the two countries in less than a week.
Scarborough Shoal, known in China as “Huangyan Dao,” is one of Asia’s most hotly contested maritime locations, with both China and the Philippines claiming ownership of the area.
“We urge the Philippines to immediately cease its infringing and provocative actions,” China’s Coast Guard said in an official statement, while also reaffirming what it described as its sovereignty over the shoal.
The Coast Guard said it carried out tracking, monitoring, and interception measures against the Philippine vessels, characterizing those actions as “standard, professional and lawful.”
Neither the Philippine Coast Guard nor the Philippine embassy in Beijing offered an immediate response when asked for comment.
The latest incident follows a separate clash earlier this week at Second Thomas Shoal, another disputed feature within the South China Sea, which prompted both governments to lodge formal protests against each other.
On the sidelines of an ASEAN regional meeting Wednesday, the foreign ministers of both nations confronted one another over that earlier encounter. China’s Wang Yi cautioned Manila about the “bitter consequences of its own making” should it continue to provoke Beijing with backing from outside powers.
