The Philippine Coast Guard lodged accusations on Sunday, stating that Chinese vessels engaged in "dangerous maneuvers" during a nine-day patrol near a reef off the coast of the Southeast Asian country.

Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels "performed dangerous and blocking maneuvers at sea against BRP Teresa Magbanua four times, with the CCG vessels crossing the bow of the PCG vessel twice", the Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement.

This month, the Philippine vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua was sent on a mission to conduct patrols around Scarborough Shoal, a disputed island between Beijing and Manila, under the pretext of "ensuring the safety of Filipino fishermen in the area."

Throughout the patrol, the Philippine Coast Guard claimed that their vessel was "shadowed" by four Chinese Coast Guard vessels "on more than 40 occasions."

The Coast Guard also alleged the presence of what it identified as "four Chinese Maritime Militia vessels."

This comes shortly after China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin warned the Philippines against crossing China's "red lines" when it comes to the Taiwan matter, stressing that it should not "play with fire."

Wenbin's remarks followed Filipino Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro's call, on February 7, to fortify the Philippines' security and military presence in the Mavulis islands, located between the Province of Batanes and Taiwan. 

"The Taiwan issue is the main one of China's core interests and a ’red line’ that cannot be crossed, the relevant [persons] in the Philippines should have a clear understanding of this, act with caution, and not play with fire on the Taiwan issue to avoid being used and harmed," Wenbin said in a statement.

Beijing and Manila have been entangled in tensions resulting from the South China Sea dispute, but the issue has grown since the Philippines conducted military exercises in the South China Sea in coordination with the United States. 

Foreign forces act, China reacts

The South China Sea dispute has been ongoing for several years, with multiple countries, namely China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan, all fighting for sovereignty in the maritime region.

Sixty percent of maritime trade passes through Asia, with the South China Sea carrying an estimated one-third of global shipping. Most recently, US and Western-affiliated naval ships have been crossing the area as part of the ongoing provocations against China. 

Beijing had always wanted to formally settle the dispute with the countries involved, but some countries sought to resort to third parties to do so. For instance, in early 2013, the Philippines initiated the South China Sea arbitration against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague - a Western-affiliated organ of the UN.

In recent months, since the West began to further stir up geopolitical tension in the region, China has begun to adopt a more defensive stance by building artificial islands and deploying coast guard and maritime patrols.

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