A fresh maritime confrontation has erupted in the South China Sea, with China claiming it “drove away” the US Navy destroyer USS Higgins near the disputed Scarborough Shoal on August 13, 2025. According to the Chinese military’s Southern Theatre Command, the American destroyer was warned and monitored before being “forced to withdraw” from the area, which Beijing asserts falls within its territorial waters under its contentious “nine-dash line” claim. China has accused the US of “seriously violating” its sovereignty and disrupting peace and security in the region by entering the waters without permission.

The US, however, has firmly rejected these accusations. The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet stated the Higgins was conducting a “freedom of navigation” operation to assert international rights and lawful maritime passage, in accordance with international law. American officials reiterated that US forces will continue to operate wherever international law allows, undeterred by Chinese claims.

This incident marks the first major US naval operation in the Scarborough Shoal’s immediate waters in over six years and follows a separate episode just days earlier when two Chinese ships—one a navy destroyer, the other a coast guard cutter—collided as they chased a Philippine patrol vessel near the same shoal. The crash rendered one Chinese vessel “unseaworthy,” highlighting rising operational tensions and coordination failures within Chinese forces.

Scarborough Shoal—about 220km west of the Philippines’ Luzon Island—is claimed by China, the Philippines, and Taiwan. China has controlled the area since 2012, defying a 2016 international tribunal ruling that invalidated its sweeping claims. Recent months have seen a spike in confrontations, with the Philippines reporting hazardous Chinese maneuvers and the use of water cannons against its vessels.

No casualties have been reported on any side following these incidents, but the spate of collisions and confrontations underscores the South China Sea’s status as one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints, drawing in major powers and raising the risk of broader conflict.

• China says the USS Higgins “illegally entered” its waters and was expelled.

• The US Navy insists the mission was lawful and asserts “freedom of navigation.”

• Days prior, two Chinese vessels collided while chasing a Philippine ship, escalating regional tensions.

• The Philippines condemned “dangerous maneuvers” by Chinese ships.