Philippines, US, Japan End South China Sea Drills
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- Philippines, US, and Japan wrapped the 17th Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity on Saturday, a five-day drill beginning July 21 that included communication exercises, replenishment at sea, and division tactics involving warships, coast guard vessels, and surveillance and fighter aircraft.
- China Coast Guard fired water cannons at Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries vessels near Scarborough Shoal for two consecutive days during a fuel and provisions delivery to Filipino fishermen, with one CCG vessel coming within about 7 meters of a BFAR boat.
- Philippine and Chinese personnel exchanged physical blows at Second Thomas Shoal on July 20, leaving one Filipino personnel with a head injury from a baton strike by CCG personnel near the grounded warship BRP Sierra Madre.
- The July 20 incident revived tensions over a June 2024 provisional understanding between Beijing and Manila that had previously reduced friction during resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre, with Beijing accusing Manila of transgressing its terms.
- The drills coincided with the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea arbitral ruling, which found China's nine-dash line claim had no basis under international law — a ruling China rejects as "null and void."
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described China's actions as "disturbing" during ASEAN foreign ministers' meetings in Manila, reaffirming Washington's support for the Philippines.
Why it matters: The June 2024 provisional understanding that had cooled confrontations at Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Shoal broke down this week — direct physical blows at one, two days of water cannons at the other — while the Philippines hosted ASEAN meetings and ran joint drills with the US and Japan, placing Chinese actions directly in front of allies and Secretary Rubio.
