US Issues Warning After Chinese Ship Collides With Ally’s Boat in South China Sea

A Chinese ship collided with a Filipino supply boat in the South China Sea on Sunday, prompting the U.S. to issue a stern warning to Beijing against increased aggression in the region, according to multiple reports.

A standoff between over a dozen Chinese vessels and four Filipino vessels in the Second Thomas Shoal on Sunday ended with a collision between two of the boats, prompting accusations of aggression from both Beijing and the Philippines government, according to The Associated Press. The U.S. subsequently condemned China for the event and warned that it would defend the Philippines per a decades-old mutual defense treaty.

“The United States stands with our Philippine allies,” a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Singapore reads. “PRC (🇨🇳People’s Republic of China) Coast Guard and maritime militia violated international law by intentionally interfering with the Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation.”

“The United States reaffirms that Article IV of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, and aircraft – including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea,” the statement reads.

The U.S. also reiterated that China has “no legal basis” to conduct maritime operations in the Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll that falls within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, according to the statement. China has long claimed that the South China Sea is its own territory and can conduct whatever business it wishes within the region, despite having little international recognition to do so.