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SEOUL, South Korea — A Philippine coast guard vessel was accused of ramming a Chinese ship Tuesday in a confrontation over a territory dispute in the South China Sea, the latest incident in a fast-moving series of developments involving Beijing, Manila and Washington.
After Chinese naval forces were outmaneuvered by their Philippine counterparts in an August clash, Beijing unilaterally announced on Sept. 10 that the disputed Scarborough Shoal was now a China-protected and off-limits “nature reserve.”
Washington responded two days later with a diplomatic announcement rejecting the reserve and then joined Philippine and Japanese naval drills in the region Saturday.
Beijing and Manila accuse each other of sparking the latest incident.
The events highlight the risks implicit in China-Philippine skirmishes west of the archipelagic nation. One retired U.S. admiral calls the clash “the most dangerous conflict nobody is talking about.”
A security expert called the apparent pushback Tuesday “unprecedented.” Philippine vessels are vastly overmatched by Chinese assets, including the world’s largest navy and fishing fleet.
Reuters, reporting from Beijing, wrote that China’s coast guard said one of its ships had been rammed.
A Chinese coast guard spokesperson accused the Philippines of “illegally” deploying 10 vessels to converge upon the shoal from different directions and said its forces responded with water cannon.
Philippine coast guard spokesman Jay Tarriela posted a different version of events, backed by footage, on the social media platform X.
He said a vessel of his country’s Department of Agriculture/Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources was water-cannoned by two Chinese coast guard vessels, causing damage and minor injuries. Furthermore, a Chinese maritime militia vessel sought to engage the Philippine vessel but was outmaneuvered.
No video evidence of the ramming was provided, though one of Mr. Tarriela’s clips showed a Philippine vessel with its bow pointing at the beam of a nearby Chinese vessel.
He confirmed that 10 Philippine fisheries vessels were in the area, providing fuel and supplies to nearby Philippine fishermen. He said the fishermen were spooked by a Chinese announcement of a live-fire drill earlier Tuesday.
The run-up to the events was fraught.
Chinese seamanship sustained a blow to its prestige after a disastrous Aug. 11 high-speed chase off Scarborough Shoal when a Philippine coast guard cutter evaded an apparent pincer move by two Chinese ships.
As a result, a Chinese coast guard vessel collided with a Chinese guided-missile destroyer. It was not clear whether personnel on the coast guard vessel’s forecastle were injured or killed, but extensive bow damage was visible in a video shot from the Philippine stern.
That footage went viral.
Events reignited last week when China declared the 58-square-mile Scarborough Shoal, which it calls Huangyan Dao, a “nature reserve.”
The Scarborough Shoal is 120 miles west of the Philippines’ main island, Luzon.
The reserve “will provide an important institutional guarantee for the conservation of the diversity, stability and sustainability of Huangyan Dao’s natural ecosystem in the South China Sea,” state media Xinhua reported, calling it “China’s inherent territory.”
Analysts considered the announcement “lawfare” designed to close off the area. On Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded with a press statement.
“Beijing claiming Scarborough Reef as a nature preserve is yet another coercive attempt to advance sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea … including by preventing Filipino fishermen from accessing these traditional fishing grounds,” it read.
On Saturday, Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity drills kicked off in waters west of Luzon.
According to Philippine reports datelined Subic Bay, the activity featured a Philippine guided missile frigate, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, a Japanese amphibious/tank-landing ship, a U.S. destroyer, maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters.
The drills ended Monday.
One expert speculated that Manila, emboldened by Beijing’s debacle in August and the support of allies, is asserting itself.
“I suspect there has been a decision made within the Philippine leadership to push back much harder with whatever resources they have, which are minimal,” said Alex Neill, a Singapore-based security expert with Pacific Forum. “This response in Scarborough Shoal is sort of unprecedented.”
The South China Sea is a hotbed of competing maritime claims among multiple states.
However, most clashes stem from Chinese harassment and interdiction operations around maritime terrain features that cover rich fishing grounds and offer base-build potential.
Beijing’s strategy to dominate the waterway includes terraforming shoals and reefs into air-land-sea bases.
Assets deployed to achieve that include centrally directed fishing fleets, Coast Guard vessels and warships. Tactics include rammings, water cannon blasts, lasers, and fist and bladed-weapon fights in small boats.
The conflict remains subkinetic, but escalation potential exists.
“China should not lose sight of the fact that the Philippines is a treaty ally of the United States,” retired U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Harry Harris said during a Center for Strategic and International Studies panel discussion last week. “This is why it has been called ‘The most dangerous conflict nobody is talking about.’”
Adm. Harris said China was playing a “dangerous game ignoring the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.”
China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, including waters hundreds of miles from its coast but inside Manila’s exclusive economic zone.
A zone extends 200 nautical miles beyond a state’s territorial sea; a territorial sea extends 12 nautical miles from its coast.
As prescribed by the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, an exclusive economic zone grants a state the exclusive right to explore and exploit underwater resources. However, unlike a territorial sea, the surface area of a zone is international water, offering freedom of navigation to all parties.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.
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