February 4, 2015 — The Philippines protested to Beijing on Wednesday after a Chinese coast guard ship allegedly rammed and damaged three Philippine fishing boats at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.
The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila also said it lodged a separate protest with Beijing over the collection of endangered giant clams by Chinese fishermen, destroying in the process coral outcrops at Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines.
The reported Jan. 29 ramming is the latest incident involving the territorial rift. In February last year, the Philippine government summoned China's top envoy in Manila to protest what it said was the firing of a water cannon by a Chinese government vessel to drive away Filipino fishermen from Scarborough. China ignored the protest and called its sovereignty there "indisputable."
The Chinese Embassy did not issue any immediate comment on Wednesday.
"The Philippines strongly protested China's continuing actions to harass and prevent Filipino fishermen from legitimately pursuing their livelihood in that area," the Philippine foreign department said in a statement Wednesday.
"Philippine fishing vessels have been routinely, continuously, peacefully and sustainably fishing in the Philippines' Bajo de Masinloc," the department said, using the Filipino name for Scarborough, a rich fishing ground and storm shelter.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald