Shortly after a violent clash between Chinese and Philippine forces at Second Thomas Shoal, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in Manila and is expected to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is in the Philippine capital for a regular gathering of ASEAN leaders. The U.S. Department of State has criticized Chinese forces for the standoff, which resulted in injuries for one Philippine servicemember, and South China Sea tensions will likely rank high on the agenda during Rubio’s visit.
The confrontation at the Philippine outpost at Second Thomas Shoal was the most serious physical altercation with Chinese forces in years. Oon Monday morning, China Coast Guard cutter 21560 approached the outpost – BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded WWII LST located inside of the Philippine EEZ – and launched a small patrol craft. The Philippine personnel aboard the outpost responded by launching RIB boats to drive away the Chinese servicemembers. According to the AFP, the China Coast Guard personnel attempted to hit the Philippine responders and rammed a RIB. The situation escalated into a melee, with servicemembers on both sides taking swings at each other with poles and paddles, and one Philippine Navy sailor was hit in the head.
“The United States condemns China’s dangerous and aggressive actions against Philippine navy personnel at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on July 20, 2026, and calls on China to immediately cease its destabilizing conduct,” the State Department said in a statement. “China’s troubling pattern of provocation against lawful Philippine maritime operations undermines regional peace and stability and directly contradicts China’s repeated commitments to resolve disputes peacefully.”
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Both the Philippines and China summoned each others’ respective ambassadors after the clash, and traded dueling allegations. “The Philippine side provoked first, yet it has turned the blame upside down, distorted the facts, and maliciously hyped the issue,” said China’s foreign ministry in a statement.
China claims Second Thomas Shoal as its own, along with a large swath of the western Philippine exclusive economic zone and most of the South China Sea. Its sweeping claims were rejected by an international arbitral panel in 2016, but Beijing rejected the ruling and has persisted with presence operations and harassment inside of Manila’s 200-mile line. Confrontations have occurred intermittently over the years, depending upon the intensity of Chinese attempts to establish de facto control, notably at Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Shoal.