US Reminds China That Defense Treaty with Philippines Covers Armed Attacks

Jeoffrey Maitem - : Oct 14, 2025 - : 5:47 pm

A senior US official has reminded China that Washington’s defense commitments to Manila cover attacks on Philippine vessels anywhere in the South China Sea. U.S. State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott made the statement Tuesday after a Chinese vessel rammed a...

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A senior US official has reminded China that Washington’s defense commitments to Manila cover attacks on Philippine vessels anywhere in the South China Sea.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Thomas Pigott made the statement Tuesday after a Chinese vessel rammed a Philippine fisheries boat near Pag-asa (Thitu) Island, which China refers to as Zhongye Dao.

Pigott reiterated that the 1951 US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty applies to “armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.”

“The United States condemns China’s October 12 ramming and water cannoning of a Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel close to Thitu Island in the South China Sea,” the US State Department said.

On Sunday, three Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) ships were anchored 1.6 nautical miles from Pag-asa on a mission to support Filipino fishermen when Chinese Coast Guard and suspected militia ships suddenly approached them, according to Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson.

In a press briefing on Monday, Tarriela said the CCG vessel 21559 fired its water cannon directly at the Datu Pagbuaya, with a video clip from the PCG showing the water blast hitting the ship.

The Chinese ship afterward rammed the Datu Pagbuaya's stern, causing minor structural damage. No crew members were hurt.

Two other Philippine fisheries vessels were also hit with water cannons but sustained no damage, Tarriela said.

Currently, Manila and the United States are bound by the long-standing 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT) that calls on both sides to help each other in times of aggression by an external power.

“We stand with our Philippine allies as they confront China’s dangerous actions which undermine regional stability,” Pigott said.

“China’s sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea and its increasingly coercive actions to advance them at the expense of its neighbors continue to undermine regional stability and fly in the face of its prior commitments to resolve disputes peacefully,” he added.

Philippines / United-states / South-china-sea / Mutual-defence-treaty /

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