China-Philippines Ships Collide Near Disputed Scarborough Shoal

7 HOURS AGO·UPDATED 7 HOURS AGO

story

Above: A Chinese Coast Guard vessel spotted off Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on March 24, 2025. Image copyright: Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)/Anadolu/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-China narrative

The establishment of a nature reserve at Huangyan Dao is a legitimate environmental protection within China’s sovereign territory, a sovereignty the Philippines violated when it illegally entered Chinese waters and, despite solemn warnings, rammed a Chinese Coast Guard vessel, necessitating the defensive actions taken thereafter.

China Coast Guard The State Council of the People's Republic of China

Anti-China narrative

The water cannon attack on a Filipino ship is yet another escalation in China's aggressive campaign to seize control of territorial waters that rightfully belong to the Philippines under international law. Despite the threat of further Chinese attacks, the Philippine Coast Guard will continue to defend the nation’s rights in the West Philippine Sea and beyond.

Department of Foreign Affairs (Philippines)Philippine Coast Guard

Pro-establishment narrative

The move by China to designate the Scarborough Shoal as a nature reserve is little more than a ruse to further its territorial ambitions in the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors. The U.S. opposes this and other similar CCP schemes and calls upon China to respect and comply with the decision of the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal.

Trump State Department