Chinese forces intercepted a Philippine supply mission near a South China Sea flashpoint Monday morning, reportedly resulting in several injuries and testing the "ironclad" U.S.-Philippine defense pact.
The Chinese personnel overpowered a rigid-hulled inflatable raft, one of six boats involved in the Philippine mission, said local news outlet Palawan News, citing a source with knowledge of the incident. Several Philippine troops were injured in the scuffle, and one navy commando lost a finger.
The escalating tensions in the South China Sea have raised questions over the threshold for drawing the U.S. into a possible conflict with China. The Philippines, Washington's oldest Asian ally, share a seven-decade-old mutual defense treaty. Biden has repeatedly said the treaty is "ironclad."
The Philippine vessels were en route to Second Thomas Shoal, where the Southeast Asian country stations a contingent of marines onboard the BRP Sierra Madre, an 80-year-old former tank landing ship deliberately grounded in 1999 to stake Manila's claim to the feature.
The intercepting Chinese force on Monday also reportedly confiscated eight weapons from the raft as well as surrounding and towing the "main vessel" some distance away from the other members of the resupply mission, according to Palawan News' source.
Over the past year, Chinese coast guard and paramilitary ships have intercepted Philippine government convoys bringing troops and supplies to the warship-turned-outpost. China claims the ship's presence is illegal and has accused the Philippines of bringing in construction supplies to reinforce the dilapidated vessel.
These episodes near the shoal have frequently involved collisions, near-collisions, and Chinese water attacks that damaged Philippine supply boats and left several onboard injured.
The reef, known in Manila as Ayungin Shoal and in Beijing as Ren'ai Reef, sits about 100 nautical miles west of the Philippines' Palawan province, within the country's internationally recognized exclusive economic zone (EEZ). It is 600 nautical miles from the nearest Chinese province, Hainan.
China claims jurisdiction over most of the South China Sea, including areas within the EEZs of the Philippines and several other Chinese neighbors. An international court in 2016 largely dismissed China's claims in favor of the Philippines, but China has disregarded the ruling, calling it illegal.
Manila has so far remained relatively tight-lipped compared to past incidents involving South China Sea confrontations.
"Today, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard conducted a routine rotation and resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal," the Philippines' National Security Council said in a statement Monday.
"However, the mission was disrupted by the illegal and aggressive actions of Chinese maritime forces." The statement accused Chinese navy and coast guard personnel and members of the paramilitary "maritime militia" of "dangerous maneuvers, including ramming and towing" but said the Philippine side "carried on with their mission."
The statement did not mention injuries or whether the Philippine craft successfully reached the Sierra Madre.
China's coast guard issued a statement Monday saying it had taken "control measures in accordance with the law" against the Philippine vessels, which at 5:59 a.m. ignored warnings and approached "in an unprofessional manner and dangerously, resulting in a collision."
Don McLain Gill, Manila-based geopolitical analyst and lecturer at De La Salle University's Department of International Studies, told Newsweek that China is seeking to normalize its activities within the Philippine EEZ. Beijing is also "increasingly interested in pushing the Philippine-U.S. alliance to its limit" to show the world Washington and Manila are unable to act despite their talk of the treaty.
"China always seeks to utilize any crisis to pursue active escalation," he added, pointing to Scarborough Shoal, a South China Sea feature that China wrested from the Philippines in 2012 after a standoff, as an example.
This should factor into the U.S. and the Philippines' response, Gill said, warning that "if left unchecked, it is likely Beijing will push the Philippines further."
During a recent summit with Philippine President Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Biden stated: "Any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels, or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our Mutual Defense Treaty."
The Department of Defense declined to comment on the incident, with a spokesperson telling Newsweek it would defer to the Philippines.
Marcos said last month that a "willful act" resulting in the death of a Philippine citizen would be "very, very close to what we define as an act of war." Manila and its partners would then take "joint action," he pledged.
The latest incident came two days after a controversial new Chinese coast guard regulations took effect. The rules empower Chinese personnel to detain foreign nationals for up to 60 days if they are suspected of trespassing into Beijing-claimed waters.
During a news conference Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian defended the rules as "consistent with universal practices" and conducive to maintaining "order at sea."
Update 06/18/24, 3 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with a comment from Don McLain Gill.
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Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian ... Read more
