WASHINGTON — The United States strongly condemned China on Monday after a maritime clash between a Chinese vessel and a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) ship near Thitu (Pag-asa) Island in the contested South China Sea.
“The United States condemns China’s October 12 ramming and water cannoning of a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel close to Thitu Island in the South China Sea,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement. “We stand with our Philippine allies as they confront China’s dangerous actions which undermine regional stability,” it added.
The confrontation followed earlier accusations traded between Manila and Beijing over whether the Philippine vessel had strayed into disputed waters or whether China’s coast guard had employed coercive tactics.
According to Philippine statements, the incident involved a Chinese ship using high-pressure water cannons on the BFAR vessel, followed by a ramming maneuver, causing minor structural damage but no reported injuries.
China, in response, urged the Philippines to halt what it called “provocations” and defended its actions as efforts to “safeguard territorial sovereignty and maritime rights.”
In its statement, the U.S. also reaffirmed that under Article IV of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, an armed attack on Philippine government vessels or aircraft anywhere in the South China Sea is covered.
Observers note that the region surrounding Thitu Island is strategically significant, lying near China’s militarized artificial islands. The clash underscores renewed tension in maritime claims that involve multiple nations, overlapping claims, heavy shipping traffic, and the 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated China’s expansive nine-dash line claim.
This recent confrontation follows earlier incidents in 2025 involving aggressive Chinese maneuvers, including water cannon use against Philippine vessels in research or resupply missions.
As tensions in the South China Sea persist, Manila has pushed its “transparency initiative,” publicly documenting maritime encounters to seek international support and deter further aggression.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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