China Sends 10 Warships Through Japan First Island Chain in a Week
China Fires Water Cannon at Philippine Vessel Near Second Thomas Shoal
China’s coast guard fired a water cannon at a Philippine naval vessel near Second Thomas Shoal on Tuesday, the latest in a string of confrontations that have pushed tensions in the South China Sea to their highest point in years. The Philippine ship was conducting a routine resupply mission to marines stationed aboard the BRP Sierra Madre, a deliberately grounded World War II-era ship that Manila uses as an offshore military outpost. Two Philippine sailors were treated for minor injuries after the water cannon struck the vessel’s upper deck. China’s coast guard said the operation was “lawful enforcement” against what it called “illegal infiltration of Chinese territorial waters.”
Washington responded immediately. A Pentagon spokesperson said the water cannon attack was “dangerous, unlawful, and inconsistent with international law” and warned that the United States would stand by its obligations under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty. The spokesperson did not specify what action, if any, the US would take, but two US Navy destroyers were operating in the vicinity of the South China Sea at the time of the incident, according to three defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the operations publicly. The US Seventh Fleet confirmed that the USS Benfold had conducted a freedom of navigation operation near the Spratly Islands within 72 hours of the confrontation.
Manila Expels Chinese Diplomats as Tit-for-Tat Escalation Deepens
The Philippine government expelled two Chinese diplomats on Wednesday in what Manila described as retaliation for Beijing’s refusal to acknowledge Manila’s sovereign rights in its own exclusive economic zone. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a nationally televised address that the expulsions were “a necessary and proportionate response” and that the Philippines would not be “bullied into silence” by any foreign power. The Chinese foreign ministry called the move “a malicious fabrication” and warned that Beijing would take “firm countermeasures” against what it described as “provocative interference” by the United States in what China considers a bilateral dispute.
Philippine Coast Guard CommanderCGCommodore said the Sierra Madre resupply mission would continue regardless of Chinese pressure. “We have every right to be in our own waters,” the commander said. “No amount of intimidation will change that.” The commander added that three coast guard vessels from Japan, which signed a coast guard cooperation agreement with the Philippines in 2024, had offered to escort future supply missions. Japan has increasingly positioned itself as a Pacific security partner to Manila, providing patrol boats and intelligence-sharing arrangements that Beijing has protested as a form of containment.
ASEAN Deadlocked as Beijing Pressures Individual Members
Diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis through ASEAN have so far failed. A special session of ASEAN foreign ministers convened in Jakarta produced no joint statement after Cambodia and Laos, both close Chinese allies, blocked language that would have called out Beijing’s coast guard operations by name. Three ASEAN diplomats told reporters on condition of anonymity that Cambodia had threatened to veto any communique that “singles out a fellow ASEAN dialogue partner.” Malaysia and the Philippines pushed for stronger language, but ultimately accepted a watered-down statement that called for “restraint and the peaceful resolution of disputes” without naming China or the specific incidents that prompted the emergency session.
China’s ambassador to ASEAN, Sun Weidong, told reporters that external powers were “fanning the flames” of the South China Sea dispute to serve their own strategic interests. “The South China Sea issue is essentially a dispute between China and certain ASEAN member states,” he said. “Outside powers have no right to interfere.” The US, Australia, Japan, and the European Union all issued separate statements condemning China’s actions at Second Thomas Shoal, though none announced specific new measures beyond existing military deployments. Regional analysts say Beijing appears to be calculating that it can outlast the diplomatic pressure while consolidating control over contested features before any binding international legal ruling can be enforced.
