Tensions between China and the Philippines are on the rise once again, with Manila accusing the Chinese Coast Guard of using water cannon to block a Philippine military supply boat from delivering food, fuel and water to troops garrisoned on a decommissioned warship grounded on a reef in the South China Sea.
The confrontation over the weekend – near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal – was the latest flare-up in a long-running territorial conflict in the resource-rich waters, involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.
