A physical confrontation occurred in the South China Sea between members of the Chinese Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy. A Filipino sailor was injured in the incident, while the two sides blamed each other for what happened.
According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, on July 20, a small Chinese Coast Guard vessel approached a Philippine military outpost near Second Thomas Shoal. During the confrontation, a Chinese Coast Guard officer struck a Filipino sailor several times on the head with a wooden baton and also damaged his inflatable boat. The injured sailor sustained wounds to the head.
Beijing rejected Manila’s account. According to the Chinese Coast Guard, two Philippine vessels ignored warnings, deliberately collided with a Chinese patrol boat and attacked Chinese personnel first. The Chinese side maintains that its actions were lawful and defensive in nature.
The incident occurred near Second Thomas Shoal, known in the Philippines as Ayungin Shoal. The reef is one of the main flashpoints between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Manila has maintained a presence there since 1999, while China considers the reef part of its territory. In 2016, an international arbitral tribunal ruled that Beijing’s territorial claims over most of the South China Sea had no legal basis. China does not recognise the ruling.
The confrontation occurred ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila. One of the main issues on the agenda is the management of tensions in the South China Sea and ongoing negotiations on a regional code of conduct. The incident once again showed that maritime tensions between the two sides could escalate into physical violence and a broader regional confrontation.
