Incident near Scarborough Shoal
China said Wednesday it had warned and “driven away” the US destroyer USS Higgins after it sailed near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, one of the world’s most strategic shipping lanes. According to the Chinese defense ministry, the vessel “illegally entered” waters off Huangyan Island, the name China uses for the shoal, without government approval.
Beijing accused Washington of seriously infringing on Chinese sovereignty, undermining peace and stability in the region, and violating international law and basic norms of international relations.
US response
The USS Higgins, part of the US Seventh Fleet based in Yokosuka, Japan, was conducting a “freedom of navigation operation” in line with international law, according to fleet spokesperson Sarah Merrill. She dismissed China’s claims as false and stated that the United States will continue to operate wherever international law permits.
Rising regional tensions
The incident comes amid ongoing strains between the two countries, which have previously exchanged sharp rhetoric over trade and security issues. Just a day earlier, a Chinese warship collided with one of its own coast guard vessels while pursuing a Philippine patrol boat.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea under its “nine-dash line,” rejecting a 2016 international arbitration ruling that found no legal basis for its assertions. In recent years, encounters between Chinese and Philippine forces have included ship collisions, water cannon use, lasers, and injuries to Filipino sailors.
Potential flashpoint
In May 2024, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. warned that the killing of a Filipino citizen in such an incident could be considered a “red line” close to an act of war. The Philippines has had a mutual defense treaty with the United States since 1951, obligating both nations to respond jointly to an armed attack in the Pacific.
