Chinese coast guard ships have used powerful water cannons and rammed a Philippine government vessel near Thitu Island in the South China Sea.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. says his country will inevitably be drawn “kicking and screaming” in any war over Taiwan due to its proximity and the presence of large numbers of Filipino workers on the self-ruled island, despite China’s strong protest over such remarks.

The Philippine defense chief has called China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea as “the biggest fiction and lie” that no Southeast Asian country will accept.

The Philippines has launched a comic book to counter what the country says is China’s disinformation campaign to push its expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea.

Chinese coast guard ships have fired water cannons at two Philippine patrol vessels near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, damaging both, in the latest flareup in an increasingly tense territorial conflict.