By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE:Philippines says China’s deployment of its largest coastguard vessel inside Manila’s exclusive maritime economic zone (EEZ) is alarming and clearly intended to intimidate fishermen operating around a shoal in the contested waters of the South China Sea, Aljazeera reported on Tuesday.

It has been reported that, a territorial row between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea has turned increasingly violent.

But the two sides has been trading allegations of intentional boat rammings, and Manila accusing Chinese coastguard personnel of using water cannon against its troops and engaging in fist fights with spears and knives.

Philippines National Security Council Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya told Aljazeera on Tuesday that Manila has lodged a protest over the presence of the 165-metre (541ft) long Chinese coastguard vessel 5901, which was spotted 77 nautical miles (142km) off the coast of Zambales province, and demanded its withdrawal from the EEZ.

“We were surprised about the increasing aggression being showed by the People’s Republic of China in deploying the monster ship,” Malaya said.

“It is an escalation and provocative,” he said, saying the presence of the vessel was “illegal” and “unacceptable”.

The Philippine Coastguard said it had deployed two of its largest vessels to drive away the Chinese vessel.