The Philippines and China have exchanged "demarches", or diplomatic actions, following a recent Philippine resupply mission in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) that allegedly led to water cannon attack by a China Coast Guard vessel.
Wang Wenbin, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, said Friday night that Beijing “lodged serious demarche to the Philippine Embassy in China” after it accused the Philippine vessels of intruding into the waters of “China’s Ren’ai Jiao” (Ayungin Shoal).
“This gravely violated China’s sovereignty,” Wang said in his regular press briefing.
This came after Manila also made the same action through the Philippine Embassy in Beijing.
In a statement of the National Task Force-West Philippine Sea, it said the embassy “has demarched the Chinese foreign ministry and protested” the Chinese vessels’ dangerous maneuver and water cannon attack against Philippine vessels, which happened Friday morning in the waters off Ayungin Shoal.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs also reached out to them and conveyed our protest directly through the Maritime Communications Mechanism,” the statement added.
The Philippines and China also exchanged accusations of infringing on each others’ territory as Beijing continues its claim over features of the West Philippine Sea, which international law already ruled to be part of the Philippines.
"Ren'ai Jiao is part of China's Nansha Qundao," Wang said.
"The Philippines has 'grounded' a military vessel at Ren'ai Jiao and attempted to repair and reinforce it in an attempt to permanently occupy Ren'ai Jiao. Such moves seriously violates international law and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) signed between China and ASEAN countries," he added.
The Philippines' statement meanwhile read that it would not "be deterred from exercising our legal rights over our maritime zones, including Ayungin Shoal which forms part of our Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf," as it maintained that its recent operation was legitimate.
"We demand that China demonstrate that it is a responsible and trustworthy member of the international community," it added.