Overview

• Philippine forces counted at least 11 to 14 China Coast Guard and suspected militia vessels near the BRP Sierra Madre over Aug. 20–21, including cutters, fast boats and rigid-hulled inflatable boats.
• Manila released video showing a Chinese small boat fitted with a heavy machine gun, with officials saying the small-craft units have been upgraded with mounted weapons.
• The China Coast Guard said it implemented “control measures” against two Philippine vessels deployed from the Sierra Madre and accused them of deliberate provocative collisions.
• Philippine officials reported a helicopter, an unmanned aerial vehicle, water-cannon exercises by five Chinese cutters, and nets laid across a shoal entrance used for past resupply runs.
• The Armed Forces of the Philippines put units on alert and deployed two boatloads from the outpost, as officials linked the hardened Chinese posture to recent tensions, including a collision at Scarborough Shoal.