The Scarborough Shoal -- a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea -- has been a flashpoint between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.
Monday's encounter took place "approximately 11.8 nautical miles southeast" of the Scarborough Shoal, the military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has slammed as destabilising.
"The Chinese frigate BN 554 was documented tailing PS35 (BRP Emilio Jacinto) at close range, while BN 573 dangerously crossed its bow in a high-risk maneuver that created the danger of collision," the military said in a statement, labelling the incident "threatening and provocative".
China in response accused Manila of sending a ship to "intrude" into its territorial waters.
Its military said it had sent "naval and air forces to track, monitor, warn and drive away the Philippine boat in accordance with laws and regulations".
"The relevant remarks of the Philippines side disregarded the facts, confused the public, and attempted to mislead international cognition," said Colonel Tian Junli, spokesperson of the Chinese military's Southern Theater Command.
Philippines Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad told AFP the last such encounter between warships from the two navies he could remember was on a resupply mission in the South China Sea two years ago.
Alexander Lopez of Manila's National Maritime Council said the Chinese vessel had been "dangerously close" to its Philippine counterpart.
The ship crossing the bow of the BRP Emilio Jacinto had come within about 180 metres (590 feet), he told AFP, leaving "no room for any manoeuvre, for any emergency cases".
The Chinese vessel following alongside had been less than 100 metres away, he said.
China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims in nearly its entirety despite an international ruling its assertion has no merit.
A Filipino sailor lost a thumb last June when Chinese coast guard members wielding knives, sticks and an axe foiled a Philippine Navy attempt to resupply its troops stationed on the Second Thomas Shoal.
The joint US-Philippine exercises known as Balikatan, which this year were to simulate a "full-scale battle scenario", are set to end Friday.
Warship sinks before it can be sunk in US-Philippine drills
Manila (AFP) May 5, 2025 -
The BRP Miguel Malvar, old enough to have seen action in World War II, was scheduled to go out in a blaze of glory Monday, as a target ship during the annual US-Philippine "Balikatan" military exercises.
The 80-year-old vessel, however, would not quite make its own funeral.
Onlookers instead watched as the ship, which once chased Japanese submarines and ferried German prisoners as part of the US fleet, sank before the first volley could be fired.
"The Balikatan 25 maritime strike targets vessel sank off the west coast of the Philippines prior to the event commencing today," Philippine Navy spokesman John Percie Alcos said in cancelling a planned media event.
"Due to rough sea conditions ... and with its long service life... she took on a significant amount of water and eventually sank," he said
Praising it as one of the most-decorated ships in Philippine history, Alcos added the country was proud to be "transitioning to a new and multi-capable navy".
After more than 20 years of service, the vessel -- then named USS Brattleboro -- was sold to the Republic of Vietnam in 1966.
The Philippine Navy acquired and refurbished the ship after its crew fled Vietnam following the 1975 fall of Saigon.
Balikatan, three weeks of US-Philippine joint exercises aimed at deterring Beijing's ambitions in the disputed South China Sea, is set to end Friday.
Related Links
Naval Warfare in the 21st Century
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
