The United States deployed two warships Wednesday to a shoal in disputed waters in South China Sea, where two Chinese ships collided earlier in the week while chasing a smaller Philippine ship. The high-seas accident raised concerns about maritime safety and questions about the extent to which the U.S. should involve itself in longstanding tensions between those countries.
Both China and the Philippines claim Scarborough Shoal and other outcroppings in the South China Sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also lay overlapping claims in the contested waters.
The USS Higgins, a guided missile destroyer, and USS Cincinnati, a littoral combat ship, were shadowed by a Chinese navy ship while sailing about 30 nautical miles from the Scarborough Shoal. There were no reports of any untoward incident, Philippine coast guard Commodore Jay Tarriela said, citing information from U.S. officials and a Philippine surveillance flight.
Philippine Coast Guard via AP
The U.S. Navy has staged what it calls freedom-of-navigation voyages and overflights in the South China Sea for years to challenge China’s restrictions and its demand for entry notifications in virtually the entire stretch of the disputed waters that it claims. That has angered China and its forces have had close runs-in with U.S. warships and aircraft on such patrols in international waters and airspace.
The deployment happened after Washington’s ambassador to Manila, MaryKay Carlson, on Tuesday condemned “the latest reckless action by China directed against a Philippine vessel” in Scarborough. The rich fishing atoll off the northwestern Philippines has been the scene of increasingly tense confrontations between the Chinese and Philippine coast guard, fishing and other ships in recent years.
Philippine Coast Guard via AP 
The U.S. is also discussing the possible deployment of more missile launcher to the Philippines to strengthen deterrence against tensions in the South China Sea’s contested waters, as well as other security hotspots in Asia, Manila’s ambassador to Washington told the Associated Press on Thursday. However, neither side has reached a final decision on the matter, said ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez.
“This is part of the strong U.S. and Philippines defense partnership,” Romualdez told AP.
The Philippines is the oldest treaty ally of the U.S. in Asia. Washington has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines if Filipino forces come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
On Monday, a Chinese navy destroyer and a Chinese coast guard ship accidentally collided while trying to block and drive away a smaller Philippine coast guard ship, the BRP Suluan, about 10.5 nautical miles from Scarborough.
Video footage shared by Philippine coast guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela on social media showed a Chinese coast guard vessel tailing the Filipino patrol boat and blasting its water cannon before a Chinese navy warship cuts in front of it. Coast guard footage additionally show a number of Chinese personnel standing at the bow of the coast guard vessel just before that section was hit by the military ship.
The Chinese coast guard vessel was damaged, Tarriela said. The Philippine coast guard spokesperson echoed comments from multiple leaders, who urged China to heed international rules that promote peaceful maritime relations, in the aftermath of the collision.
China blamed Philippine vessels for the confrontation, with Chinese coast guard spokesperson Gan Yu telling the official state news agency Xinhua that Philippine vessels intruded into the disputed maritime area and disregarded China’s repeated warnings.
Philippine Coast Guard via AP 
Shortly after the collision, the video shows the heavily shattered bow of the Chinese coast guard ship without the Chinese personnel, who were standing on deck before the crash. The Chinese navy ship sustained deep dents and what appeared to be linear gushes on its hull.
Japan, Australia and New Zealand expressed alarm on Wednesday over the dangerous maneuvers that led to the collision in the busy waters, a key global trade route.
“Japan upholds the rule of law and opposes any actions which increase tensions. Our concern goes to the repeated actions in the South China Sea,” Japanese Ambassador to Manila Endo Kazuya said in a post on X.
The Australian Embassy in Manila expressed concern “by the dangerous and unprofessional conduct of Chinese vessels near Scarborough Shoal involving the Philippine Coast Guard,” saying in a statement the incident “highlights the need for de-escalation, restraint and respect for international law.”
“This is a learning experience for the People’s Republic of China,” Tarriela, the Philippine coast guard commodore, told a news conference in Manila. “For so many years, we have been reminding them to stop dangerous maneuvers, to stop risky blockings, to adhere to the (anti-)collision regulations because if there is a very high chance of miscalculation, this kind of collision incident would happen.”
Tarriela spoke a few hours after a Chinese fighter jet flew as close as 500 feet to try to drive away a Philippine coast guard plane on a surveillance flight on Wednesday over the Scarborough with invited journalists on board. The Chinese jet carried out dangerous maneuvers for about 20 minutes, including flying about 200 feet above the small Philippine aircraft, Tarriela said.