Chinese and Philippines vessels clash in South China Sea
(CNN) — Chinese ships fired water cannon at Philippine vessels, including one carrying a CNN crew, near a dangerous flashpoint in the South China Sea on Friday – the third tense confrontation this week in the contested waters.
Besides rich fishing grounds in its lagoon and surrounding waters, there’s seemingly little remarkable about the shoal. But this corner of the world is a deceptively fraught geopolitical hotspot.
Free access to one of the world’s most vital shipping lanes, a mutual defense treaty between the Philippines and the United States, and a steady Chinese push to solidify claims over disputed territories mean one navigational mistake or errant shot could spark serious conflict.
CNN was given exclusive access aboard a vessel belonging to the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, on a mission to resupply fuel for local fishermen near Scarborough Shoal, a sandbar claimed by both Beijing and Manila.
As the Philippine ships approached the shoal on Friday, several larger China Coast Guard ships pulled close enough that CNN’s crew could see the faces of the personnel on board.
“Leave immediately … Otherwise, we will take firm action in accordance with the law,” the China Coast Guard warned over a megaphone. The Chinese ship circled the Philippine vessel continuously, as its water cannon hit the ship.
The South China Sea dispute has been overshadowed by wars elsewhere in recent years but remains a major potential flashpoint for global conflict. Multiple governments are jostling for sovereignty over the waterway, a crucial economic corridor through which one third of global maritime trade passes every year.
The Philippine ships eventually canceled their mission on Friday and headed back to port, citing a developing typhoon in the region. Once their ships turned away, the tension dramatically decreased, though hours later China Coast Guard ships could be seen in the distance still shadowing the Philippine vessels.
In total there were 15 Chinese vessels, belonging to China’s Coast Guard and its so-called “maritime militia,” Philippine authorities later said. The Philippines had 10 ships, three of which came from its coast guard; a small Philippine government propeller plane also buzzed low above the vessels during the mission.
The Philippine Coast Guard said its vessels had been “subjected to a series of water cannon attacks and dangerous maneuvers by China Coast Guard.” One Chinese ship came within seven meters (about 23 feet) of the Philippine vessel CNN was on, posing “serious risk of collision,” it said.
Meanwhile, China’s state broadcaster reported its coast guard “took enforcement measures on Friday in accordance with the law against several Philippine vessels engaged in illegal activities in the waters under China’s jurisdiction around Huangyan Island” – the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal.
Asked by CNN’s Mike Valerio for a response to Friday’s incident, Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said it was “legitimate and lawful for China to take necessary measures to uphold its rights and security, which is professional, standard, and beyond reproach.”
Also called Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines, the shoal is an uninhabited rock with a central lagoon, 140 miles (220 kilometers) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, and around 530 miles from China’s Hainan province.
China, the Philippines and Taiwan all claim sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal – but China has effectively controlled it since 2012 by maintaining an almost-constant coast guard presence in nearby waters.
Clashes at sea
Frictions have been rising all week.
First was a clash at Second Thomas Shoal, a rocky outcrop in the Spratly Island chain also contested by Manila and Beijing.
The Philippines maintains a small contingent on the shoal in a grounded World War II-era ship, the BRP Sierra Madre. On Monday, the Philippine military says a China Coast Guard ship dispatched a smaller boat that approached the Sierra Madre. In response, the Philippines launched two rigid-hulled inflatable boats to escort the Chinese boat away.
Philippine video shows a group of eight Chinese troops in a boat ramming one of the smaller Philippine craft. Blows appear to be exchanged using wooden batons and oars. Two Philippine service members were injured and evacuated for treatment, according to their military.
Chinese authorities afterward accused the Philippines of spreading misinformation, claiming the Philippine boats had rammed and “fiercely” attacked their personnel.
A second confrontation came just days later: on Thursday, China’s Coast Guard said it drove away two Philippine vessels that it accused of “intruding into” waters near Scarborough Shoal.
The Philippine military later said Chinese ships had used water cannon as well as dangerous navigational techniques to try to block an effort to resupply Philippine fishermen around the shoal. No injuries were reported, and the Philippine vessels went on with their mission.
The US weighed in both times. After Monday’s incident, the State Department condemned China’s “dangerous and aggressive” moves; and on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a similar tone.
“We have a role, and we’re not going to abandon our allies. We’ve made that abundantly clear,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Manila.
The Philippines is a US mutual defense treaty ally, which means Washington is legally bound to come to Manila’s aid in the event of an attack on its territory or possibly even Philippine ships at sea.
The uneasy tension was clear even before Friday’s incident. As the 30-meter (90-foot) Philippine ship CNN was on board sailed through the South China Sea overnight, in the predawn darkness, it was shadowed by a China Coast Guard vessel – which was nearly four times bigger, measuring 111 meters (364 feet), reflecting the size and might of China’s maritime forces.
Disputed waters
It’s not just the Philippines and China that have disputes over territory in the 1.4 million-square-mile South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim some of the 250 islands, reefs and atolls in the waterway.
An international tribunal ruled in 2016 that China has no legal basis to claim historical rights to the bulk of the South China Sea. Chinese leader Xi Jinping rejected the ruling at the time and continued construction in disputed waters anyway – building military installations, airstrips and manmade islands, despite having pledged not to do so during a 2015 visit to the White House.
Control of those features and the waters around them has taken on even greater importance this year in light of what has played out in the Persian Gulf.
After coming under attack from the US and Israel, Iran has been able to shut down the Strait of Hormuz at the entrance to the Gulf, stopping up to 20% of the world’s oil trade as well as other vital supplies for everything from agriculture to computer-chip manufacturing. Analysts worry what a similar conflict in the South China Sea could do to the world’s economy.
And this sort of confrontation has become more common in recent years as Beijing has taken a more aggressive stance. During one particularly violent encounter in June 2024, China Coast Guard personnel brandished axes at Philippine troops and slashed their rubber boats.
China’s coast guard has ramped up its presence – with its vessels spending 993 ship days around Scarborough Shoal in June alone, nearly as much as they spent in the entirety of 2025, according to a study from the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The US has also added ships to the region, moving US Coast Guard vessels that were deployed in Bahrain before the start of the Iran war to the eastern Pacific.
The-CNN-Wire
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