US envoy calls latest China assault vs. PH vessel unlawful, reckless

Washington's top diplomat to Manila on Thursday condemned China's water cannon attack on a Filipino research vessel off Sandy Cay within the West Philippine Sea, calling it reckless and unlawful.

Ambassador MaryKay Carlson said the China Coast Guard’s "aggressive actions against a lawful Philippine civilian mission near Sandy Cay recklessly endangered lives and threaten regional stability."

"We stand with our Philippine allies in support of international law and a free and open Indo-Pacific," Carlson said on X.

The China Coast Guard’s aggressive actions against a lawful ???????? civilian mission near Sandy Cay recklessly endangered lives and threaten regional stability. We stand with our ???????? allies in support of international law and a #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific.

— Ambassador MaryKay L. Carlson (@USAmbPH) May 22, 2025

Philippine officials said the China Coast Guard (CCG) water cannoned and sideswiped the BRP Datu Sanday (MMOV 3002) twice, resulting in some damage to its port bow and smokestack, and putting at risk the lives of its civilian personnel onboard.

It was the first time water cannons had been used against a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) research vessel in the area of Sandy Cay, a strip of sandbars near the Philippine-occupied Pag-asa Island. Manila calls Sandy Cay as Pag-Asa Cay.

BRP Datu Sanday and another vessel, BRP Datu Pagbuaya (MMOV 3003), were on a routine mission with a Filipino scientific team to collect sand samples in the area as part of a marine scientific research initiative.

"Despite the aggressive interference, dangerous maneuvers, and illegal acts by the CCG and Chinese maritime militia vessels, the Philippine scientific team was able to complete its operations in Pag-Asa Cays 1, 2 and 3," a BFAR statement said.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila has not yet responded to media requests for comment.

China insists on ownership of almost 90 percent of the South China Sea, including areas that overlap with the Philippines’ and other Asian nations’ territorial waters, such as the West Philippine Sea.

The disputes have led to a series of confrontations between Philippine and Chinese coast guards and navy forces in the resource-rich waters.

Washington has repeatedly said that it stands by its 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty commitments with the Philippines if Filipinos come under an armed attack in the disputed waters.

The MDT, a 1951 defense pact signed between Manila and Washington, binds the two allies to come to each other’s aid from aggression and help defend the other party.

Although not a party to the disputes, the US maintained that keeping the South China Sea  – a major trade route - open and accessible is within its national interest.—LDF, GMA Integrated News