This frame grab from handout video footage taken and released on October 12, 2025 by the Philippine Coast Guard shows a China Coast Guard ship (R) deploying water cannon as seen from a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries vessel during an incident near Thitu island in disputed waters of the South China Sea. Manila’s coast guard accused a Chinese ship of deliberately ramming a Philippine government vessel anchored near an island in the South China Sea on October 12, as China says the Philippines is “fully responsible” for the collision. (Photo by Handout via AFP Photo/Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)

Members of the Philippine Coast Guard stand alert as a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocks their way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. File photo
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

The Philippines on Monday (January 13, 2025) called on Beijing to desist from “escalatory actions” at a South China Sea shoal and said a protest has been lodged over the presence of Chinese coast guard, militia and navy in its exclusive economic zone.

Also read:Philippines says China ‘biggest disruptor’ of peace in Southeast Asia

The protest stems from the presence of two coast guard vessels on Jan. 5 and Jan. 10 in and around the disputed Scarborough shoal, one of which was a 165 m (541ft) long boat referred to by the Philippines as “the monster”. It said a Chinese navy helicopter was also deployed in the area.

“The escalatory actions of these Chinese vessels and aircraft disregard Philippine and international laws,” said the Philippines’ national maritime council, an inter-agency group tasked with upholding the country’s interests at sea.

“China should direct its vessels to desist from conducting illegal actions that violate Philippines’ sovereign rights in its EEZ,” it said in a statement.

China yet to respond to charges

China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China says the Scarborough Shoal is its territory and has accused the Philippines of trespassing.

Tensions between China and the U.S. ally the Philippines have escalated the past two years, with frequent run-ins between their coast guards in the South China Sea, which China claims sovereignty over almost in its entirety.

The statement came just hours after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had a virtual call with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba where the three leaders discussed China’s conduct in the South China Sea.

China’s expansive claims overlaps with the EEZs of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. The disputed waterway is a strategic shipping route through which about $3 trillion of annual commerce moves.

A 2016 ruling of an international arbitral tribunal said Beijing’s claims, based on its historic maps, have no basis under international law, a decision China does not recognise.

Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr., right, confers the Outstanding Achievement Medal to United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III in recognition to his substantial contributions to strengthening the Philippines-U.S. bilateral defense ties and promoting regional security in the Indo-Pacific at Camp Aguinaldo military headquarters in Quezon City, Philippines on on November 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The United States and the Philippines signed an agreement on Monday (November 18, 2024) to secure the exchange of highly confidential military intelligence and technology in key weapons the U.S. would provide to Manila.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Philippine counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, signed the legally binding General Security of Military Information Agreement in Manila at a time when the longtime treaty allies have boosted their defense and military engagements, including large-scale joint combat drills, largely in response to China’s increasingly aggressive actions in Asia.

Also read: Storms brewing in East, South China seas | Explained

The outgoing Biden administration has taken steps to strengthen an arc of military alliances across the Indo-Pacific region to better counter China, including in any future confrontation over Taiwan or in the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing has claimed almost in its entirety.

That has dovetailed with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s thrust to strengthen his country’s external defenses given an alarming escalation of territorial confrontations between Chinese and Filipinos forces in the South China Sea.

The Department of National Defense in Manila said the agreement aims to ensure the security of classified military information that would be exchanged between the U.S. and the Philippines.

It will “allow the Philippines access to higher capabilities and big-ticket items from the United States,” the Philippine defense department said.

Neither side provided more details or released a copy of the agreement.

Two Philippine security officials, however, have told The Associated Press that such an agreement, similar to ones Washington has signed with other allied countries, would allow the U.S. to provide the Philippines with higher-level intelligence and more sophisticated weapons, including missile systems.

It would also provide the Philippine military access to U.S. satellite and drone surveillance systems with an assurance that such intelligence and details about sophisticated weapons would be kept highly secure to prevent possible leaks, the two Philippine officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive issue publicly.

Philippine efforts to obtain sophisticated weapons from the U.S. military in the past have been hampered by a lack of such an intelligence deal, including when Filipino forces were scrambling to fight a 2017 siege by Filipino and foreign militants aligned with the Islamic State group in southern Marawi city. Philippine forces, backed by U.S. and Australian spy planes, quelled the uprising after five months.

Mr. Austin and Mr. Teodoro also attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a center where the U.S. and Philippine militaries would coordinate future joint operations, including the exchange of information. Austin said the center “will be a place where our forces can work side-by-side to respond to regional challenges.”

Mr. Austin renewed the U.S. commitment to the Philippines as an ally and told Mr. Teodoro that “we are more than allies. We are family.”

The coordinating center, Mr. Teodoro said, would provide “a unified picture of the shared areas of responsibility and common approaches to threats against both our securities.”

“I’m sure it will benefit future generations of both our peoples to come because although we may change people, the values don’t change,” Mr. Teodoro said.

The Philippine defense chief reiterated the crucial need for the U.S. security presence in the region, citing Marcos’s repeated statements that such a presence “is essential for maintaining peace and stability in this region.”

A Philippine supply boat sails near a Chinese Coast Guard ship during a resupply mission for Filipino troops stationed at a grounded warship in the South China Sea, on October 04, 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A Chinese coast guard ship came within a meter (3 feet) of colliding with a Philippine patrol ship it was trying to block in the South China Sea, in an alarming incident that intensified fears that territorial disputes in the waters could spark a larger crisis.

The Philippines on Friday strongly condemned the Chinese ship’s maneuvers near Second Thomas Shoal, which the Asian neighbors both claim and has been the scene of frequent confrontations.

One other Philippine coast guard vessel was blocked and surrounded by Chinese coast guard and militia ships in the incident, which dragged on for about eight hours on Wednesday. A major clash in the disputed waters could potentially involve the United States, which has vowed to defend the Philippines, its treaty ally, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under armed attack.

Two smaller supply boats being escorted by the Philippine coast guard in the contested waters managed to breach the Chinese blockade and delivered food and other supplies to a Filipino marine outpost at the shoal.

“We condemn the behavior of the Chinese coast guard vessel. They have been violating international law, particularly the collision regulations,” Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said at a briefing Friday.

A collision was averted when one of the two Philippine coast guard vessels, the BRP Sindangan, rapidly reversed its engine to avoid slamming into the Chinese coast guard ship that crossed its bow at a distance of only a meter, Tarriela said.

It’s “the closest dangerous maneuver” by any Chinese coast guard ship against a Philippine patrol ship, he said.

The incident was witnessed by several journalists, including from The Associated Press, who were invited by the Philippine coast guard to join the voyage as part of a strategy aimed at exposing Chinese aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

A small contingent of Filipino marines and navy personnel has stood guard for years on a long-marooned but still commissioned warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, at the shoal. China has surrounded it with its coast guard ships and militia vessels to prevent the Philippines from delivering construction materials that Beijing fears could be used to reinforce the Sierra Madre and turn it into a permanent territorial outpost.

Wednesday’s hostilities began at dawn when a Chinese coast guard ship closely tailed the Philippine vessels enroute to Second Thomas Shoal. A swarm of Chinese coast guard and militia ships, including at least one navy warship, later emerged and formed a blockade in the high seas off the shoal.

A Chinese coast guard radio operator asserted repeatedly to the BRP Sindangan that “China has indisputable sovereignty” over Second Thomas Shoal and outlying waters. “To avoid miscalculations, leave and keep out,” the Chinese radio operator warned.

Filipino coast guard personnel responded by asserting Philippine rights to the area and said they would proceed with the delivery of the supplies.

The Chinese coast guard said in a statement Wednesday night that the Philippine vessels entered the waters “without permission from the Chinese government” and that “China firmly opposes the Philippines illegally transporting building materials to the ‘grounded’ military boat.“ It said it gave a stern warning to the Philippine vessels and monitored them throughout the process.

It was the latest flare-up in long-simmering territorial disputes in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest trade routes. The conflicts, which involve China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, are regarded as a potential flashpoint and have become a delicate fault line in U.S.-China rivalry in the region.

In early August, a Chinese coast guard ship used a water cannon against one of two Philippine supply boats to prevent it from approaching Second Thomas Shoal. The move, which was caught on video, outraged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and prompted the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila to summon the Chinese ambassador to convey a strongly worded protest.

Washington reacted by renewing a warning that it is obligated to defend the Philippines as a treaty ally.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry accused Washington of “threatening China” by raising the possibility of activating the U.S.-Philippine mutual defense treaty. Beijing has repeatedly warned the U.S. not to meddle in regional territorial disputes.

Later in August, the Philippines again deployed two boats, which succeeded in maneuvering past the Chinese coast guard blockade and completing the delivery of supplies to the Filipino forces at Second Thomas Shoal. Two Philippine coast guard ships securing the supply boats, however, were prevented by Chinese coast guard ships from maneuvering closer to the shoal. A U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft flew in circles in support of the Philippine vessels as the standoff continued for more than three hours.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro expressed concern over dangerous Chinese actions at sea and said the government is ready to respond to potential emergencies, including any collision between Chinese and Philippine ships in the disputed waters.

“Naturally the concern is always there, and we take that into account,” Teodoro said Tuesday night. “We have plans depending on what happens.”

A 2016 arbitration ruling set up under the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea invalidated Beijing’s claims on historical grounds to virtually the entire South China Sea. China refused to participate in the arbitration sought by the Philippines, rejected the decision as a sham and continues to defy it.