US warns it will defend Philippines after Chinese ships rammed Manila vessels

The United States renewed a warning on Monday that it would defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack under a 1951 treaty after Chinese ships blocked and collided with two Filipino vessels off a contested shoal in the South China SeaPhilippine diplomats summoned a Chinese Embassy official in Manila on Monday for a strongly worded protest following Sundays collisions off Second Thomas Shoal No injuries were reported but the encounters damaged a Philippine coast guard ship and a woodenhulled supply boat operated by navy personnel officials saidPresident Ferdinand Marcos Jr called an emergency meeting with the defense secretary and other top military and security officials to discuss the latest hostilities in the disputed watersThe Philippines and other neighbors of China have resisted Beijings sweeping territorial claims over virtually the entire South China Sea and some like Manila have sought US military support as incidents multiplyAfter the meeting Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro blasted China in a news conference for resorting to brute force that he said endangered Filipino crew members and for twisting the facts to conceal its aggressionThe Philippine government views the latest aggression by China as a blatant violation of international law Teodoro said China has no legal right or authority to conduct law enforcement operations in our territorial waters and in our exclusive economic zoneMarcos ordered an investigation of the highsea collisions Teodoro said but he refused to disclose what steps the Philippine government would takeWe are taking these incidents seriously at the highest levels of government he said adding that the government called for a news conference to provide accurate facts The Chinese government is deliberately obfuscating the truth the defense chief saidAlso read Wagh Bakri Tea Group executive director Parag Desai dies after brain hemorrhageThe Philippines also plans to raise its alarm over the Chinese ships dangerous maneuvers in talks between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on a proposed nonaggression pact a code of conduct to prevent a major armed conflict in the South China SeaBeijing is hosting the threeday negotiations starting Monday two Philippine officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to publicly discuss details of the talksTeodoro said it was very ironic that China was hosting the talks that aim to prevent major conflicts at sea when they just committed a blatant disregard of international lawThe territorial conflicts involving China the Philippines Vietnam Malaysia Taiwan and Brunei have long been regarded as a flashpoint in a delicate fault line in the USChina rivalryAbout five Chinese coast guard ships eight accompanying vessels and two navy ships formed a blockade on Sunday to prevent two Philippine coast guard ships and two boats from delivering food and other supplies to Filipino forces stationed at Second Thomas Shoal aboard a marooned navy ship Philippine coast guard Commodore Jay Tarriela saidDuring the standoff one of the Philippine coast guard ships and a supply boat were separately hit by a Chinese coast guard ship and a vessel Only one of the two Filipino boats managed to deliver supplies to Philippine forces Tarriela saidThe senior Chinese diplomat who was summoned by Philippine foreign officials repeated Chinas assertion that the Philippine vessels intruded into Chinese territoryChina once again urges the Philippines to take seriously Chinas grave concerns honor its promise stop making provocations at sea stop making dangerous moves stop groundlessly attacking and slandering China and to tow away the illegally grounded warship as soon as possible Zhou Zhiyong was quoted as saying by the Chinese Embassy in ManilaHe was referring to the Sierra Madre which serves as Manilas territorial outpost at the shoal after being deliberately ran aground in 1999The Chinese coast guard on Sunday blamed the Philippine vessels for causing the collisions and said the Filipinos were carrying construction materials to strengthen their outpost at the shoalThe US and other allies expressed alarm over the Chinese action Washington renewed a warning that its obligated to defend the Philippines under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty if Filipino forces ships and aircraft come under an armed attack including those of its coast guard anywhere in the South China SeaThe United States stands with our Philippine allies in the face of the Peoples Republic of China coast guard and maritime militias dangerous and unlawful actions obstructing an October 22 Philippine resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal the US State Department said in a statement issued by its embassy in ManilaIt blamed the dangerous maneuvers by Chinas ships for the collisions and added that they violated international law by intentionally interfering with the Philippine vessels exercise of high seas freedom of navigationThe State Department also cited a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Chinas expansive claims to the South China Sea on historical grounds including in Second Thomas ShoalWashington lays no claims to the disputed sea but has deployed forces to patrol the waters to promote freedom of navigation and overflight moves that have angered Beijing which has warned the US to stop meddling in what it says is a purely Asian dispute