Dramatic video of Monday’s incident near the disputed Scarborough Shoal posted on social media showed that a Chinese coast guard cutter sustained a crushed bow after ramming into a Chinese warship. The two Chinese vessels collided as their intended target, a Philippine coast guard vessel, sailed out of the way in what appeared to be a pincer harassment attack.

Philippine coast guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela called the Chinese collision “reckless.” The Philippine coast guard has consistently urged the Chinese government to respect a 1972 convention designed to prevent collisions at sea and to approach the situation with professionalism.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian made no mention of the collision in a statement on X about the Scarborough Shoal, which China calls Huangyan Dao and asserts as its territory. The shoal is a disputed atoll claimed by China, the Philippines and Taiwan and one of several Spratly islands where China and the Philippines have been locked in maritime confrontations.

The Ukrainian president made the accusation Tuesday, warning that Moscow is now preparing for a new offensive in Ukraine all while Mr. Putin plays along with a planned summit with Mr. Trump in Alaska on Friday.

In an X post, Mr. Zelenskyy thanked Western leaders for their diplomatic efforts to end the war, as well as their support for Kyiv’s independence and territorial integrity. But he added that Russia is not currently interested in ending the war. His comments come as Western European leaders seek talks with Mr. Trump ahead of Friday’s summit in an effort to protect their security interests. 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has organized a series of meetings for Wednesday, inviting Mr. Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Mr. Zelenskyy, NATO’s chief and several European leaders to attend. A primary question heading into Friday is whether Mr. Trump will tolerate Mr. Putin’s demand that Moscow be allowed to keep eastern Ukrainian territory seized by Russian forces during the war.

Mr. Trump is booting out illegal immigrants faster than President Biden added them, according to the latest Census Bureau numbers, which show an unprecedented drop in the number of immigrants living in the United States.

The total number of foreign-born people dropped by 2.2 million from January to July, and most of that — 1.6 million — was among the illegal immigrant population, says Steven A. Camarota, the research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, who crunched the numbers.

It’s an almost unfathomable turnaround from the Biden years, when illegal immigrants surged into the U.S. at record rates, netting about 120,000 new people each month. Over the past six months, though, the illegal immigrant population has been dropping at nearly 270,000 a month, or more than twice the rate of increase under Mr. Biden.

Joseph R. DeTrani writes that “during the past five years, when we didn’t talk to North Korea, the country built more nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deliver these nuclear bombs as far as the United States.”

“North Korea’s pivot to Russia in 2024 was a smart tactical move,” writes Mr. DeTrani, a former high-level U.S. diplomat and intelligence official and Threat Status opinion contributor. “It put North Korea on center stage with the introduction of its troops and weaponry to aid Russia in its war with Ukraine,” he writes. “It also sent a message to the U.S. and China that North Korea is an independent actor, not solely dependent on China and not fixated on a normal relationship with the U.S.

“In the next few weeks,” Mr. DeTrani writes, “Mr. Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung will have a summit. Trade issues will undoubtedly be discussed, but I think a fair amount of time will be spent on national security issues and developments with North Korea.”

The family of one of the two 15-year-old girls who were run over and killed by a U.S. armored vehicle in South Korea in June 2002 refused to show up for a recent memorial marking the 23rd anniversary of the tragedy, which endangered Korean-American relations, Donald Kirk writes.

Mr. Kirk, a former Far East correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and the old Washington Star, notes: “The father of the other girl, on hand for the ceremony, wept as he addressed the crowd of villagers and anti-American leftists from Seoul, 20 miles south. ‘The pain remains as if it happened yesterday,’ he said.

“The responses of both fathers and their families epitomize the right-left gap that divides Koreans as their newly elected left-leaning president, Lee Jae-myung, looks for ways to restore dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and improve relations with China,” Mr. Kirk writes.

• Aug. 12-13 — Ai4 2025: Artificial Intelligence Industry Event, Ai4

• Aug. 12 — North Korean Foreign Policy in Focus: Emerging Scholar Perspectives, Stimson Center

• Aug. 13 — In-Person Two-Day NetBrain Power User Training, NetBrain Technologies 

• Aug. 15 — Deterrence Dynamics in the Asia-Pacific: An Australian Perspective with Christine Leah, National Institute for Deterrence Studies

• Aug. 20 — The Future of U.S.-Australia Critical Minerals Cooperation, Center for Strategic & International Studies

• Aug. 26 — The Future of Naval Aviation: A Conversation with Vice Adm. Daniel L. Cheever and Lt. Gen. Bradford J. Gering, Center for Strategic & International Studies