Pentagon Issues Warning – Stands Firm With Philippines in South China Sea

By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News

The US has issued a warning in the wake of the latest confrontation between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

A day after a Filipino sailor was injured in what Manila called an “intentional high-speed ramming,” a State Department spokesman once again brought up the mutual defense treaty between the US and the Philippines. He said the pact “extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels or aircraft – including those of its coast guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.”

The incident occurred in what has become a familiar place – the Second Thomas Shoal. It’s located in the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone, and Manila has a deliberately grounded warship and a small group of personnel there.

But Beijing claims roughly 90 percent of the South China Sea as its own. In recent months, China’s coast guard has used water cannon and ramming tactics to harass Philippine ships that patrol the region and resupply its forces on the shoal.

In Monday’s confrontation, China said a Philippine ship ignored its warnings and “dangerously approached a Chinese vessel in normal navigation in an unprofessional manner, resulting in a collision.”

The US National Security Council said the Chinese action was “provocative, it’s reckless, it’s unnecessary and it could lead to misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to something much bigger and much more violent.”