Overview

• Two US Navy vessels, guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins and littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati, sailed within 30 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal on August 13 to assert navigational rights.
• China’s PLA Southern Theater Command said it lawfully tracked, warned and expelled USS Higgins for entering its waters; the US 7th Fleet called the claim false and said the operation complied with international law.
• Footage released by the Philippine Coast Guard shows a coast guard cutter’s shattered bow and deep dents on a PLAN destroyer after their collision on August 11 while pursuing the BRP Suluan.
• Philippine officials reported that a Chinese fighter jet intercepted a Coast Guard surveillance aircraft as close as 150–200 feet during patrols over the shoal, raising fresh safety concerns.
• Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and the US Embassy in Manila urged de-escalation and respect for UNCLOS to prevent further miscalculations in the disputed waters.