US Embassy Condemns China’s “Escalatory” Actions at Second Thomas Shoal

Trisha Matabalan, Philippine Canadian Inquirer
July 21, 2026

(Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons)

PHILIPPINES – During a reported clash at Second Thomas Shoal on July 20, Monday, the Philippine military reported that the Chinese coast guard injured a Filipino sailor while both countries were sailing on the wildly disputed Second Thomas Shoal. The assault was captured on camera, showing that military personnel from China repeatedly struck the sailor with a wooden baton.

China’s coast guard fired back that the two rubber boats rammed the Chinese patrol boat “in a dangerous manner,” and that they “maliciously attacked Chinese law enforcement using oars and long sticks.” However, this is far from the only incident that occurred within these contested territories, with the subject of Scarborough Shoal being an object of debate since 1997.

In a recent statement on July 21, 2026, H.E. Lee Lipton, the United States Ambassador to the Philippines, said that “the United States condemns China’s dangerous and escalatory actions at Second Thomas Shoal on July 20 that injured a Philippine servicemember serving on the BRP Sierra Madre. The United States stands with the Philippines, its oldest treaty Ally in Southeast Asia, as a force for peace and prosperity.”

He added that “China’s actions in the South China Sea threaten regional stability and stand in sharp contrast to Philippine forces’ professional and discipline.”