The China Coast Guard said that a Philippine vessel had ¡°deliberately rammed¡± one of its ships on Tuesday, alleging that Manila had organized more than 10 government vessels to ¡°illegally intrude¡± into waters near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, just days after Beijing approved plans to turn the area into a national nature reserve.

Gan Yu, a spokesperson for the China Coast Guard, said in a statement that one of the Philippine vessels had rammed a Chinese ship in the flash point area after the Philippine ships entered the waters ¡°from multiple directions.¡±

According to Gan, the Chinese side took ¡°control measures,¡± issuing verbal warnings and using water cannons, as the Philippine government ship slammed into a Chinese vessel.