An escalating series of clashes in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China   could draw the U.S., which has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, into the conflict. 

A 60 Minutes crew got a close look at the tense situation when traveling on a Philippine Coast Guard ship that was rammed by the Chinese Coast Guard.

China has repeatedly rammed Philippine ships and blasted them with water cannons over the last two years. There are ongoing conversations between Washington and Manila about which scenarios would trigger U.S. involvement, Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro said in an interview.

“I really don’t know the end state,” Teodoro said. “All I know is that we cannot let them get away with what they’re doing.”

China as “the proverbial schoolyard bully”

China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, through which more than $3 trillion in goods flow annually. But in 2016, an international tribunal at the Hague ruled the Philippines has exclusive economic rights in a 200-mile zone that includes the area where the ship with the 60 Minutes team on board got rammed. 

China does not recognize the international tribunal’s ruling. 

“The proverbial schoolyard bully is the best example of what China is,” Teodoro said. “It just muscles you over.”

Ray Powell, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, runs the nonprofit Sealight at Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, which tracks China’s actions in the South China Sea. He said China gets away with its actions because there is no enforcement.

“China has decided that at this point in their history, they are large enough so that they can buck the law,” Powell said. 

60 Minutes crew witnesses violent tensions in the South China Sea

Just last month, a 60 Minutes crew witnessed the dangerous situation in the region.

Correspondent Cecilia Vega boarded the Cape Engaño, a Philippine Coast Guard ship, for what was supposed to be a routine mission resupplying ships and stations in the South China Sea. But sirens rang out in the middle of the first night at sea as they were en route to Sabina Shoal.

“It’s four in the morning,” Vega said from the ship. “We’ve all been sound asleep. This alarm just went off on the ship. We were told to wake up and put our life jackets on because we’ve just been rammed by a Chinese boat.”

The 60 Minutes crew was told to stay inside the cabin for safety. There was confusion and fear and it was unclear if the ship would take on water or if the Chinese would try to force their way on board. Philippine crew members prepared for that possibility and stood by the hatch holding clubs in case they had to fend off the Chinese.

After the Chinese Coast Guard ship — 269 feet long and nearly twice the size of the Cape Engaño — pulled away, the Filipino crew found a three-and-a-half foot hole in the hull. 

The ramming incident happened about 60 nautical miles off the coast of the Philippines and about 660 nautical miles from China.

As the day wore on, it became clear the Philippine ship was surrounded by Chinese vessels. Manila and Beijing have stationed coast guard vessels around an area called Sabina Shoal in recent months, with the Philippines fearing China will try to take control. The ship Vega and her team was on was headed to Sabina Shoal to resupply a Philippine coast guard ship there.

“We’re at a complete standoff. We’ve been here for, going on, two hours now, not moving,” Vega reported at the time. “It’s unclear whether we can even turn around and go back, if we wanted to. We’re just completely surrounded by Chinese ships.”

The Filipinos tried to negotiate a way out, but ultimately were forced to abandon the first stop of their mission. In their damaged boat, they had to take a long detour to their next supply drop, as Chinese ships followed closely.

By then, the Chinese had already publicized their version of the incident — accusing the Filipinos of instigating the conflict and highlighting the faces of the 60 Minutes crew, accusing them of being part of a propaganda campaign.

Cpt. Daniel Labay, the top-ranking officer on the Cape Engaño, said it was clear the collision was not his ship’s fault. He said the damage to the Cape Engaño would not stop it from continuing on.

“This is our place. This is our exclusive economic zone,” he said. “This is the Philippines.”

The most violent incident so far 

The Sierra Madre, a grounded World War II-era battleship used to hold down Manila’s claim to another disputed area in the South China Sea, was the scene of the most violent incident to date. 

In June, when the Philippine Navy tried to resupply troops stationed on the Sierra Madre, the Chinese tried to block the delivery. They had bladed weapons and spears with them, Gen. Romeo Brawner, the Philippines’ military chief of staff, said. A Filipino Navy SEAL lost his right thumb after the Chinese rammed his boat. 

“They stole our equipment. They destroyed our equipment. They hurt our personnel,” Brawner said. “These are the doings of pirates.”

If the Chinese were to open fire and the Filipinos fired back, it could mark the beginning of war, Brawner said. 

American intervention would be expected if the Chinese took the Sierra Madre, Teodoro said.

“That is an outpost of Philippine sovereignty,” Teodoro said. “So we’re not talking about a rusty, old vessel solely. We’re talking about a piece of Philippine territory.”

The U.S. role in the China-Philippines conflict

The U.S. has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, which means the U.S. is bound to defend the Philippines if it comes under armed attack. If, in a future ramming incident, a Philippine ship sinks and people die, the Philippines may get onto a war footing and turn to the U.S., Powell said. It could hurt U.S. credibility with allied countries if it fails to meet its treaty obligations.

“Every treaty in the end depends on the political will of the parties,” Powell said.

Currently, the U.S. conducts regular joint exercises with the Philippines, though it has not had a permanent military presence in the country since 1992. This year the U.S. committed $500 million in military aid to the Philippines and another $128 million to upgrade bases.

President Biden has invited Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the White House twice in the past 16 months and has assured him of America’s support. He has stressed that the U.S. commitment to the Philippines is “ironclad,” 

Earlier this year, Washington sent the Philippines a powerful weapon during joint exercises – a mid-range missile system capable of reaching mainland China.

The move angered China. 

“What happens within our territory, it is for our defense. We follow international law,” Teodoro said. “What’s the fuss?”

China says the Philippines is increasing the risk of war in the region. 

“That’s what they always say,” Teodoro said. “Everything the world does that they don’t like is the fault of the world.”