China's coastguard has fired water cannons at Philippine ships near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, and accused Manila of an "illegal" intrusion and the ramming of one of its vessels.

The confrontation comes a week after China approved plans to turn the shoal into a national nature reserve.

Tuesday's encounter at the 150-square-kilometre chain of reefs and rocks involved more than 10 Philippine ships, Gan Yu, a spokesperson for China's coastguard, said.

He accused the vessels of having "illegally invaded China's territorial waters of the Scarborough Shoal from different directions".

He said a Philippine coastguard vessel had "disregarded solemn warnings from the Chinese side and deliberately rammed a Chinese coastguard vessel".

"The China coastguard lawfully imp

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