Philippines, U.S. condemn China’s dangerous tactics at Second Thomas Shoal

FORUM Staff

China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships and coast guard vessels blocked the Philippines from completing a routine resupply mission for troops aboard the BRP Sierra Madre in late September 2026. The Philippine Navy vessel, which is deliberately grounded, is a permanent sovereign extension of the nation at Second Thomas Shoal, also known as Ayungin Shoal, in the South China Sea.

The United States said China’s “escalatory tactics” toward the Philippines, a longtime U.S. treaty ally, threatened freedom of navigation and a free, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

The vessels’ dangerous maneuvers put Philippine personnel at risk, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said, and showed disregard for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 international tribunal ruling that Beijing has no legal authority to assert its expansive claims over the South China Sea. China ignores the ruling and continues its bullying tactics despite overlapping sovereignty claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Two PCG patrol vessels deployed in support of a Philippine Navy-operated resupply ship when China’s forces intercepted the mission about 60 nautical miles from the shoal, which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). China’s fleet included three cutters continuously shadowing the Philippine vessels, as well as 11 coast guard and maritime militia vessels near the Sierra Madre.

The PLAN deployed three warships, including two catamaran missile boats, to support the interception, which “obstructed a legitimate humanitarian and sustainment operation,” Philippine officials said. Manila suspended the mission to protect its personnel after a PLAN warship issued a radio warning that it would take “compulsory measures” against the resupply mission, the PCG said.

The U.S. condemned China’s “use of dangerous blocking and other irresponsible maneuvers … that threatened a collision with a Philippine vessel and prevented a lawful and routine resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal,” said U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton. “We stand by our Philippine Allies and laud their professionalism and restraint. We call on the China Coast Guard and PLAN to cease the use of escalatory tactics that threaten the freedom of navigation and a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.”

The confrontation came six days after a China Coast Guard cutter intercepted and rammed a Philippine Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel 54 nautical miles from Palawan province in the Philippines’ EEZ. The cutter repeatedly cut across the government vessel’s stern before colliding, the PCG said.

“Let us be clear about what this vessel was doing: it was bringing fuel to Filipino fishermen so they can keep fishing in our own waters and keep food on Filipino tables,” Manila stated. “The China Coast Guard deliberately rammed a civilian government vessel on a humanitarian and livelihood mission, endangering the lives of its Filipino crew.”

After a series of confrontations at the shoal in 2023 and 2024, Beijing and Manila de-escalated tensions with a provisional understanding allowing the Philippines to resupply the Sierra Madre without obstruction. The confrontation in late September, as well as a July 2026 clash that injured two Philippine service members, suggests that understanding has broken down, “potentially ushering in a new period of tension at Second Thomas Shoal,” The Diplomat magazine reported.

Manila called on China to cease interfering with the resupply missions: “The Philippines will continue to conduct lawful operations … and exercise its sovereign rights and jurisdiction in accordance with international law.”