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Agence France-Presse

Washington on Friday accused China of an escalation against the Philippines and warned that an armed attack would invite a US response after an incident in disputed waters.
“The United States stands with our ally, the Philippines, in the face of this escalation that directly threatens regional peace and stability,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in Abuja, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken was travelling.
The action “escalates regional tensions, infringes upon freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as guaranteed under international law and undermines the rules-based international order.”
He warned that any “armed attack on Philippine public vessels” would invoke the 1951 US-Philippines treaty in which Washington is obliged to defend its ally.
Philippines slams Chinese vessels for firing water cannons at its boats
The Philippines said the Chinese coastguard on Tuesday fired a water cannon against boats delivering supplies to Filipino marines, forcing them to halt their mission.
The incident came as the Filipinos were travelling to Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, one of a series of hotly contested areas in the South China Sea.
The Philippines earlier voiced “outrage, condemnation and protest”.
China defended its actions, saying that it acted to “safeguard China’s sovereignty” as the Filipinos had not been in contact on their movements.


China claims almost all of the sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually, with competing claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
The contested waters also have valuable fishing grounds and are believed to sit atop vast oil and gas deposits.
Beijing has ignored a 2016 ruling by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that its historical claim over most of the sea to be without basis.
China controls several reefs in the South China Sea including Scarborough Shoal – which Beijing seized from Manila in 2012 – and is just 240km west of the main Philippine island of Luzon.
It has asserted its stance by building up small shoals and reefs into military bases with airstrips and port facilities.
Netflix pulls ‘Pine Gap’ episodes in Philippines over South China Sea map
After China occupied Mischief Reef in the mid-1990s, the Philippines marooned a derelict navy vessel atop the nearby Second Thomas Shoal to assert Manila’s territorial claim. Members of the Philippine Marines are based there.
Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte has sought to pivot away from the US, the Philippines’ former colonial master, towards China since taking power in 2016 and has appeared reluctant to confront Beijing.
But facing growing domestic pressure to take a harder line, Duterte has insisted Philippine sovereignty over the waters is not negotiable.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Thursday: “We will continue to assert our sovereignty … over our territory.”
In July, Duterte walked back on a decision to axe the 70-year-old military deal – the Visiting Forces Agreement – with the US during a visit by Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin.


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US-China relations

South China Sea: US warns Beijing it will defend Philippines in event of attack

A Chinese coastguard vessel patrols the South China Sea in April. Photo: Reuters

South China Sea: Philippines slams China for firing water cannons at its boats; Beijing says Manila no permission to be there

A China coastguard ship and a Philippine supply boat engaged in a stand-off in the South China Sea. File photo: AFP

Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin. Photo: AP

Germany navy chief vows commitment to Indo-Pacific as warship to sail South China Sea

The German navy frigate Bayern makes a port call in Tokyo. Photo: Kyodo

Germany's Chief of Navy Vice Adm. Kay-Achim Schonbach, right, German Ambassador to Japan Clemens von Goetze, center, and the Commanding Officer of the German Navy Frigate Bayern, Tilo Kalski, left, attend a press conference at the Japan National Press Club Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, in Tokyo. The German frigate is visiting Tokyo after two days of joint exercises with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Samidare in the Pacific Ocean amid increasingly assertive maritime activities by China in the region. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

05 November 2021, Japan, Tokyo: Nobuo Kishi (L), Japanese Defence Minister, and Tilo Kalski, Commander of the German frigate Bayern, stand at the harbour upon the arrival of the frigate. The German Armed Forces intend to use it to campaign for freedom of the sea lanes and compliance with international law in the Indo-Pacific together with Japan and other states. Photo: -/ZUMA Press Wire/Pool/dpa

The German navy frigate Bayern makes a port call in Tokyo. Photo: EPA-EFE

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Diplomacy


The State Department said Beijing’s action ‘escalates regional tensions’ in the disputed waterway
The US response came after Manila said China’s coastguard fired a water cannon against its boats in the Spratly Islands



The State Department said Beijing’s action ‘escalates regional tensions’ in the disputed waterway.


South China Sea: US warns Beijing it will defend Philippines in event of attack

The State Department said Beijing’s action ‘escalates regional tensions’ in the disputed waterway The US response came after Manila said China’s coastguard fired a water cannon against its boats in the Spratly Islands

The State Department said Beijing’s action ‘escalates regional tensions’ in the disputed waterway

The US response came after Manila said China’s coastguard fired a water cannon against its boats in the Spratly Islands