On Sunday, the China Coast Guard said that four Philippine ships had entered the waters of the disputed Nansha Islands, also known as Spratly Islands, in the South China Sea "without permission of Chinese authorities." The incident led to a light collision between a Chinese and Philippine vessels.
According to the media, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that the Philippines should stop "stirring up trouble" and "making dangerous moves" through maritime "provocations."
Meanwhile, US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner accused China of "further dangerous operational behavior," while expressing Washington's support for Manila over the incident.
"We continue to stand with the Philippines, and our commitment to the US-Philippines Alliance is ironclad," Ratner wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The territorial affiliation of a number of islands in the South China Sea has been the subject of disputes between China and several other Asia-Pacific countries for decades. Significant oil and gas reserves have been discovered on the continental shelf of those islands, including the Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands, Thitu Island, and Scarborough Shoal. Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and the Philippines are involved in the disputes to some extent.