US blasts ‘aggressive’ China over South China Sea collision with Philippine ship

Hong Kong CNN —

The United States on Monday condemned China over a collision with the Philippines in the disputed South China Sea, the latest in a series of increasingly fraught confrontations that have raised the potential of a flashpoint for global conflict in the vital waterway.

A Chinese vessel and a Philippine supply ship collided near Second Thomas Shoal in the contested Spratly Islands early Monday, according to statements from both nations, which blamed each other for the incident.

China claims “indisputable sovereignty” over almost all of the South China Sea, and most of the islands and sandbars within it, including many features that are hundreds of miles from mainland China. Multiple governments, including Manila, hold competing claims.

In a post on X, Washington’s ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson said the US condemned China’s “aggressive, dangerous maneuvers,” which “caused bodily injury” and “damaged Philippine vessels.”

Neither the Philippines nor China reported injuries or damage from the collision, which comes just weeks after Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. warned that the death of any Filipino citizen at the hands of another country in the South China Sea would be “very close” to an act of war.

Marcos has sought closer ties with the US, which has repeatedly stressed Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to a 1951 mutual defense treaty between the US and the Philippines that stipulates both sides would help defend each other if either were attacked by a third party.

The incident Monday is the latest in a string of recent confrontations between Manila and Beijing that have raised concerns among Western observers of potentially developing into an international incident if China,