China and the Philippines are at odds after vessels from both countries collided off a contested shoal in the South China Sea, with the United States now threatening to intervene.
The US issued a warning to Beijing that it would defend the Philippines in the event of an armed attack under a 1951 treaty.
Chinese ships blocked and collided with two Filipino vessels off Second Thomas Shoal on Sunday, which is within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
While no injuries were reported, the encounters damaged a Philippine coast guard ship and a wooden-hulled supply boat operated by navy personnel.
In response to the flashpoint, the Philippines accused China of “illegal and dangerous” behaviour and summoned Beijing’s ambassador to the country.
China accused one of the Philippine boats of “deliberately” stirring up trouble by reversing in a “premeditated manner” into a Chinese fishing vessel.
In a statement, the US State Department accused Beijing of “dangerous and unlawful” acts in the contested waterway, saying the manoeuvres “violated international law by intentionally interfering with the Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation”.
Citing the 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty, the US said it is obligated to defend Manila if its ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including “those of its coast guard – anywhere in the South China Sea“.
The US ambassador to the Philippines, MaryKay Carlson, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the US condemns China’s “latest disruption of a legal Philippine resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal, putting the lives of Filipino service members at risk”.
She added: “We stand with our friends, partners and allies in protecting Philippine sovereignty and in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
The Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague ruled in 2016 there was no basis under international law for China’s claim to most of the South China Sea, which Beijing does not recognise.
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The Philippines accused China of “illegal and dangerous” behaviour and summoned Beijing’s ambassador. Pic: AP
Last month, Manila said it would not back down from Beijing’s attempts to block fishermen from the Scarborough Shoal, also within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
In an act described as a “special operation”, the Philippines cut a 300m floating barrier installed by the Chinese.
In August, the Philippines accused a Chinese coast guard vessel of firing a water cannon at one of its ships.
