China’s military says it drove U.S. Navy destroyer the USS Higgins from waters near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Wednesday morning.
Two days ago, a collision occurred between Chinese ships seeking to disrupt a Philippine Goast Guard mission at the disputed feature.
Newsweek reached out to the U.S. Seventh Fleet and the Chinese Foreign Ministry via emailed requests for comment.
Why It Matters
China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, home to overlapping claims by the Philippines and several other states.
Scarborough Shoal, one of the most hotly contested features in China’s territorial dispute with the Philippines, sits within the U.S. treaty ally’s exclusive economic zone. While China effectively seized control of waters around the atoll in 2012, the Philippines has since 2024 increased its patrols there to assert its claim and deliver supplies to local fishermen.
Clashes at Scarborough and other South China Sea flashpoints have raised questions over whether a miscalculation could trigger Manila’s Mutual Defense Treaty with Washington—and potentially a conflict between the two superpowers.
What To Know
In a statement posted to Chinese social media, the People’s Liberation Army Southern Theater Command said the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins had “illegally intruded” into the territorial sea around Scarborough Shoal, calling it a serious violation of China’s sovereignty and security.
The command “deployed forces and monitored and expelled it in accordance with law and regulations,” the statement added.
A territorial sea extends 12 nautical miles (about 13.8 miles) from coastlines and high-tide features such as Scarborough Shoal. In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal rejected China’s expansive South China Sea claims.
The tribunal did not rule on sovereignty over the shoal; it recognized traditional fishing rights for Filipino and Chinese fishermen at Scarborough.
The U.S. Navy had not released any information on the alleged patrol near Scarborough Shoal as of time of writing.
The Navy frequently deploys sea and air assets in international waters to challenge claims that Washington believes infringe on the freedom of navigation.
China maintains patrols by the U.S. and other Western militaries in the region threaten peace and stability.
During Monday’s confrontation, a China Coast Guard ship slammed into a Chinese Type 052 destroyer while pursuing a smaller Philippine Coast Guard patrol boat that was part of a government mission to deliver food and fuel to fishermen.
Footage shows the collision severely damaging the coast guard cutter’s bow.
Ship-tracking data shared by the maritime analysis group SeaLight showed Chinese vessels on Tuesday sailing in a grid-like pattern consistent with search-and-rescue operations—suggesting personnel may have been thrown overboard by the impact.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the Philippines had “seriously harmed peace and stability at sea.”
What People Are Saying
The Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs wrote in a statement: “The Department is seriously concerned by the dangerous maneuvers of two vessels of the People’s Liberation Army Navy and the Chinese Coast Guard and their unlawful interference with a routine humanitarian operation for Filipino fisherfolk in and around the territorial sea of Bajo de Masinloc, which is a longstanding and integral part of Philippine territory.”
Bajo de Masinloc is the Philippines’ name for Scarborough Shoal. In China, it’s known as Huangyan Island.
Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, wrote in a statement this week: “China’s campaign to dominate the South China Sea by force threatens stability, peace, and prosperity across the Indo-Pacific, as the Philippines and other nations defend their legitimate interests. Beijing must comply with international law and immediately end its coercive maritime actions.”
What’s Next
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said it would lodge a diplomatic protest against China over its actions at Scarborough Shoal.
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