US rebukes Beijing after clash injures Philippine sailor
Washington condemned China over a confrontation at Second Thomas Shoal as Manila prepares to host ASEAN foreign ministers, including Marco Rubio and Wang Yi.
By Sarah Jenkins · Chief Macro Economics Correspondent
· 3 min read
The United States condemned China’s conduct in the South China Sea after the Philippines said a Chinese coast guard officer injured a Filipino sailor during a confrontation at Second Thomas Shoal. The incident adds diplomatic pressure ahead of meetings in Manila this week involving U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Southeast Asian counterparts.
Washington described Beijing’s actions as “dangerous and aggressive,” according to a State Department statement. Manila said a Chinese coast guard officer repeatedly hit a Philippine navy sailor on the head with a wooden baton and damaged a navy rubber boat during the clash on Monday.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines said the encounter took place near the BRP Sierra Madre, a warship Manila grounded on the reef nearly three decades ago to reinforce its claim. The military said a Chinese inflatable boat carrying eight personnel approached the outpost at close range and “reacted violently and aggressively” after two Philippine navy boats moved to push it away.
China rejected Manila’s account. The China Coast Guard said Philippine dinghies had been launched “illegally” from the Sierra Madre, ignored warnings and rammed a Chinese patrol vessel. It also said Filipino personnel attacked Chinese officers with oars and long sticks.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the United States stands with its treaty ally, the Philippines, and called on Beijing to “immediately cease its destabilizing conduct.” Pigott also reaffirmed Washington’s position that a 2016 arbitral ruling rejected China’s broad claims in the South China Sea as having no basis in international law.
Dispute tests regional diplomacy
Second Thomas Shoal has become one of the most sensitive points in the South China Sea dispute. The reef lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, while China claims almost the entire waterway despite the 2016 ruling. Since 2023, confrontations around Philippine resupply missions have included the use of water cannon, lasers and vessel-ramming, according to the Council on Foreign Relations’ conflict tracker cited in accounts of the dispute.
The United States and the Philippines are bound by a mutual defense treaty signed in 1951. U.S. officials have repeatedly linked that treaty to attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea, making any serious escalation a matter of broader regional security concern.
Rubio is scheduled to travel to Manila for meetings connected to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ gathering. The South China Sea is expected to be a leading topic, with Wang also due to attend.
The meetings come at a sensitive point in U.S.-China relations. Rubio met Wang on the sidelines of last year’s ASEAN gathering in Malaysia, and the two spoke by phone after President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing earlier this year. Rubio’s Manila trip also follows Trump’s recent accusation that Beijing substantially interfered in U.S. elections.
For the Philippines, the latest flare-up complicates a week intended to highlight its ASEAN chairmanship. Wang is scheduled to meet Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro on the sidelines of the summit, in what would be the first meeting between the two countries’ top diplomats since 2024. Rubio is expected to meet President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., with South China Sea issues set to feature in the discussions.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
