China and the Philippines have reported a fresh nautical conflict close to a disputed South China Sea reef

A fresh encounter between Chinese and Philippine warships took place in the South China Sea on Friday. Manila said that a Chinese coast guard ship and her companion vessels had engaged in risky maneuvers and had fired a water cannon at a Philippine supply ship in disputed seas.

China said that it had acted in accordance with maritime law to protect what it claims to be its territory.

The incident was the most recent in a string of maritime conflicts between the two countries over disputed territories that might escalate into more dangerous military conflicts.

China has blockaded a remote Philippine naval station on Second Thomas Shoal, also known as Ayungin Shoal, which has caused tensions to grow lately. The Philippine Navy purposefully grounded a dilapidated battleship in 1999 to support its territorial claims, and this is the model upon which the marines are modeled.

According to Philippine authorities, a Chinese coast guard ship and a companion vessel crashed with a Philippine coast guard ship and a military-operated supply boat last month close to the disputed shoal. Despite repeated radio warnings, China accused the Philippine warships of trespassing in what it claimed to be Chinese waters “without authorization.”

China’s coast guard and paramilitary Maritime Militia vessels “recklessly harassed, blocked and executed dangerous maneuvers in another attempt to illegally impede or obstruct a routine resupply and rotation mission,” according to a report released on Friday by a task force of the Philippine government overseeing the South China Sea.

It said that the Philippine supply vessel M/L Kalayaan, which was on way to give supplies to the outpost, was destroyed by a Chinese coast guard ship using a water cannon.

It added in a statement that the resupply operation was completed successfully in spite of the harassment.

The statement went on, saying, “We firmly insist that Chinese vessels responsible for these illegal activities leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal immediately.” It also said that the Chinese Foreign Ministry had received a complaint from the Philippine Embassy in Beijing. Later, the Chinese Foreign Ministry declared that it had protested to the embassy on its own.

The shoal is known in China as Ren’ai Reef. According to the Chinese coast guard, three Philippine coast guard ships and two small cargo boats “arbitrarily trespassed into the waters near China’s Ren’ai Reef.”

A spokesman for the Chinese coast guard, Gan Yu, said in a statement that the coast guard “followed the Philippines ships in accordance with the law, taking necessary control measures, and made temporary special arrangements for the Philippines side to transport food and other daily necessities.”

China will continue to defend its national sovereignty, it said, and it urged the Philippines to cease taking any acts that violate China’s rights.

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said during a briefing in Beijing, “China urges the Philippine side to immediately stop making trouble and provocation at sea and to tow away the illegal grounded vessel as soon as possible.”

In the US-China competition, territorial disputes in the South China Sea including China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei have long been seen as a possible hot spot and a fragile fault line.

Following the incident last month, in which two Philippine boats were struck and stopped by Chinese ships off the disputed shoal, the United States reaffirmed its threat to protect the Philippines in the event of an armed assault in accordance with a 1951 pact.