The United States is in discussions with the Philippines about dangerous actions taken by the People’s Republic of China against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea.
The latest in a series of incidents occurred March 5 when a group of PRC ships surrounded and blocked a small resupply convoy carrying provisions to Filipino soldiers stationed on Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands. The PRC ships employed dangerous maneuvers and water cannons against the Philippine vessels, causing multiple collisions, injuries to four Filipino service members, and damage to at least one Philippine vessel.
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing that these actions “demonstrate once again a reckless disregard by the PRC for the safety of Filipinos and also for international law:”
“By impeding the safe operation of Philippine vessels carrying provisions to Filipino service members stationed at Second Thomas Shoal, the PRC interfered in lawful Philippine maritime operations and in Philippine vessels’ exercise of high-seas freedom of navigation.”
The PRC continues to make large territorial claims to the South China Sea and to the islands within it, despite the legally binding 2016 Arbitral Ruling that determined the PRC has no lawful maritime claim to the waters around Second Thomas Shoal. Thomas Shoal, as Spokesperson Miller noted in a written statement, “is clearly within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.”
Under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, the arbitral decision, he emphasized, “is final and legally binding on the PRC and the Philippines. The United States calls upon the PRC to abide by the ruling and desist from its dangerous and destabilizing conduct.”
Spokesperson Miller pointed out that “Article IV of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.”
He told reporters, “The United States stands with our Philippine allies in the face of [the PRC’s] dangerous and unlawful actions.”
