China claims to have “driven off” U.S. destroyer near the contested Scarborough Shoal.
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The 46th fleet of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy set sail from a military port in Zhanjiang, south China’s Guangdong Province, on February 21, 2024. Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
China announced on Wednesday that it had warned and “drove away” a U.S. destroyer that sailed near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, a vital shipping lane globally. The destroyer, USS Higgins, “illegally entered China’s territorial waters off Huangyan Island without the approval of the Chinese government,” according to a translation of the statement by China’s defense ministry.
Huangyan Island is the term China uses for the shoal, which is at the center of a maritime dispute with the Philippines. China accused the U.S. military of “seriously” infringing upon its sovereignty, stating that U.S. actions “severely undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea and violate international law and basic norms governing international relations.” The USS Higgins is part of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, based in Yokosuka, Japan, which did not immediately respond to inquiries regarding the incident.
This event occurs amid ongoing tensions between Washington and Beijing, highlighted by a recent trade spat that has seen both nations exchange sharp statements. In March, China warned that it was ready for “a trade war or any other type of war,” though tensions have since decreased.
On Tuesday, a Chinese warship collided with one of its own coast guard vessels while pursuing a patrol boat belonging to the Philippines. China asserts almost all of the South China Sea under its “nine-dash-line,” a claim that contradicts a 2016 ruling by an international arbitration court in the Netherlands, which found no legal basis for Beijing’s claims.
Clashes have occurred between Chinese and Filipino ships, with the Philippines accusing Chinese forces last year of following its vessels and using lasers against patrolling aircraft near another disputed reef. Reports indicate that these encounters have included boat collisions, the use of water cannons, and injuries to Filipino sailors.
In May 2024, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stated that if a Filipino citizen were killed in the South China Sea due to an incident involving the Chinese Coast Guard, it would likely be considered a “red line” and come “very, very close to what we define as an act of war.” He noted that “our treaty partners also hold that same standard,” referring to U.S. forces. Washington has maintained a mutual defense treaty with Manila since 1951, which stipulates that an attack on either the Philippines or the U.S. in the Pacific is regarded as an attack on both.
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