Overview

• The guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) sailed within 12 nautical miles of Scarborough Shoal to assert navigational rights and freedoms under international law.
• The littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati (LCS-20) operated in the vicinity on routine patrols alongside Philippine Coast Guard missions, according to US officials.
• China’s Southern Theater Command said it organized forces to track, warn and oust the Higgins from waters it claims, a charge rejected by the US Navy 7th Fleet.
• Philippine authorities reported two PLAN frigates, four China Coast Guard cutters, six maritime militia vessels and a J-15 jet shadowing or intercepting their surveillance flights.
• Regional partners including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the UK called for restraint and adherence to the UNCLOS tribunal ruling after this week’s collisions and standoffs.