The US yesterday deployed two warships in a disputed South China Sea shoal, where two Chinese navy and coast guard ships collided two days ago while trying to drive away a smaller Philippine ship in a high-seas incident captured on video, alarming several Western and Asian countries.
China and the Philippines, as well as Taiwan, claim Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) and other outcroppings in the South China Sea.
The USS Higgins, a guided missile destroyer, and the USS Cincinnati, a littoral combat ship, were shadowed by a Chinese navy ship while sailing about 30 nautical miles (56km) from the shoal.
Photo: screenshot from Philippine Coast Guard video via EPA
There were no reports of any untoward incident, Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela said, citing information from US officials and a Philippine surveillance flight.
The US Navy has staged what it calls freedom of navigation and overflight operations in the South China Sea for years to challenge China’s restrictions and demand for entry notifications in virtually the entire stretch of the disputed waters that it claims.
That has angered China, and its forces have had close runs-in with US warships and aircraft on such patrols in international waters and airspace.
Photo: Reuters
US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson on Tuesday condemned “the latest reckless action by China directed against a Philippine vessel” in Scarborough.
Washington has repeatedly warned that it is obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Philippine forces come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
On Monday, a Chinese navy destroyer and a China Coast Guard ship collided while trying to block and drive away a smaller Philippine Coast Guard ship, the BRP Suluan, about 10.5 nautical miles from Scarborough.
Video footage made public by the Philippines showed the China Coast Guard ship blasting its water cannon with a number of Chinese personnel standing at the bow shortly before that section was hit by the fast-turning Chinese navy ship.
Shortly after the collision, the video shows the heavily shattered bow of the China Coast Guard ship without the Chinese personnel. The Chinese navy ship sustained deep dents and what appeared to be linear gushes on its hull.
Japan, Australia and New Zealand yesterday expressed alarm over the dangerous maneuvers that led to the collision in the busy waters, a key global trade route.
“This is a learning experience for the People’s Republic of China,” Tarriela told a news conference in Manila. “For so many years, we have been reminding them to stop dangerous maneuvers, to stop risky blockings, to adhere to the [anti-]collision regulations because if there is a very high chance of miscalculation, this kind of collision incident would happen.”
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