World

China’s Risky Power Play in the South China Sea

Published

1 year ago

September 15, 2024

China’s Risky Power Play in the South China Sea

China’s coast guard ships have swarmed and collided with Philippine boats. They have doused Philippine vessels with powerful water cannons. Chinese crew members have slashed inflatable crafts, blared sirens and flashed high-powered lasers at Filipino troops.

As China pushes to dominate the South China Sea, it is increasingly willing to use force to drive out the Philippines, a treaty ally of the United States. In recent months, China’s tactics have damaged Philippine boats and injured personnel, and raised fears of a superpower showdown in the strategic waterway.

A New Flashpoint

For months, the latest target of China’s power play was a Philippine coast guard ship, the Teresa Magbanua. The video above was taken by the crew of that ship, as a Chinese coast guard vessel collided into it late last month.

The episode was one of four confrontations between the two countries’ vessels, in just two weeks. The encounters were not only becoming more frequent, but they were also taking place in a new location — Sabina Shoal, a resource-rich atoll close to the Philippine mainland.

The two countries had in earlier months been facing off near another atoll in the disputed Spratly Islands, the Second Thomas Shoal, where Chinese ships regularly harass Philippine boats trying to resupply sailors stationed on a beached warship. Now, their feud has expanded.

These are the places where China has confronted the Philippines since 2023.

Note: Incident locations are approximated from locations broadcasted by the Philippine and Chinese coast guard vessels. Other tools include lasers, knives, axes, and rocks.

The Philippines wants to control Sabina Shoal, an unoccupied atoll inside its exclusive economic zone. Sabina Shoal, which lies just 86 miles west of the Philippine province of Palawan and over 600 miles from China, is near an area rich in oil deposits, and on routes Manila considers crucial for trade and security.

“A hostile China would be able to strangle our maritime trade with the rest of Asia and most of the world from Sabina Shoal,” said Jay Batongbacal, a maritime security expert at the University of the Philippines. Sabina Shoal would make “a good staging ground for vessels that will interfere with Philippine maritime activities,” he said.

Manila anchored the Teresa Magbanua, one of its largest coast guard ships, at the Sabina Shoal in April to try to stop China from what the Philippines sees as efforts to try to build an island there.

The Philippine Coast Guard has pointed to piles of crushed and dead corals apparently dumped on the shoal as signs of Chinese land reclamation under way. China has denied the accusation. But the building and fortifying of artificial islands is a key part of how China has asserted its claims over contested waters hundreds of miles from its coast.

China, which claims almost all of the South China Sea, says its tactics are needed to defend its sovereignty. Beijing has rejected a ruling by an international tribunal in 2016 that China’s sweeping claim to the waters had no legal basis.

China accused the Philippines of trying to permanently occupy Sabina Shoal by parking the coast guard vessel on it, just as it had grounded the warship at Second Thomas Shoal. Beijing even sent tugboats to Sabina Shoal, which some read as a threat to tow the Philippine ship away.

China has not resorted to guns. Rather, it is using what military theorists call gray zone tactics, aggressive moves that fall short of inciting all-out war. That includes imposing blockades, blasting water cannons and sailing dangerously close.

But the moves can still cause damage: The recent collision between Chinese and Philippine boats, for instance, left a three-foot hole on the Teresa Magbanua, as well as another Philippine vessel.

Damage on the Teresa Magbanua

Philippine Coast Guard via Associated Press

“If the Philippines insists on occupying more shoals, China will have no choice but to use all available measures,” said Hu Bo, director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a Beijing-based research group. “There is no limit.”

On Sunday, after months of pressure from China, the Philippines said that the Teresa Magbanua had returned to port in Palawan. The Philippine statement sought to cast the move as following the accomplishment of the boat’s mission.

But it nodded to the challenges of remaining in the face of a Chinese blockade that prevented the ship from being resupplied, saying the crew had been “surviving on diminished daily provisions” and that some needed medical care.

The Philippines said the vessel had suffered structural damage from being rammed by the Chinese coast guard, but indicated that the boat would return after undergoing repairs.

Tensions on the Rise

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. of the Philippines has taken on a more muscular approach against China than his predecessor did. He has beefed up the country’s alliance with the United States and invited journalists to join resupply missions at sea to highlight China’s actions.

China has called the United States “the biggest troublemaker stirring up unrest in the South China Sea.” Mr. Hu, the expert in Beijing, said that China has been compelled to use heavier-handed tactics because diplomacy with the Marcos administration has failed.

With both sides digging in, they are tangling with each other more often and more aggressively.

Confrontations between China and the Philippines

In one confrontation in June, China’s coast guard used axes, tear gas and knives to harass Philippine troops on a resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal. Chinese sailors punctured Philippine military boats and seized their equipment, including guns.

Eight Filipino soldiers were hurt, including one who lost a finger. The Philippine military called it the “most aggressive” Chinese action in recent history.

Source: Armed Forces of the Philippines via Facebook

That episode on June 17 made clear that tensions needed to be dialed down. The two sides briefly came to a “provisional agreement” on the Second Thomas Shoal, and the Philippines was able to conduct a resupply mission at the end of July. But officials from both countries have disputed the details of the agreement, raising questions about how long it will last.

“China’s overarching strategy is to dominate the South China Sea. We should not expect the de-escalation to last,” said Rommel Ong, a professor at the Ateneo School of Government in Manila and a retired rear admiral in the Philippine Navy. “Unless they attain that objective, their coercive actions will wax and wane depending on the situation.”

Since October, the Chinese coast guard has used water cannons against Philippine ships more regularly than it likely ever has in the long-running dispute. Collisions have also become more common.

In recent confrontations, China has routinely used water cannons.

Sources: Armed Forces of the Philippines; Philippine Coast Guard; China Coast Guard; Reuters; Storyful

Whenever the Philippines has attempted to sail to disputed atolls, ships from the Chinese coast guard, maritime militia, and navy have rapidly confronted them.

Some of the Chinese ships shadow the Philippine boats. Others cut across their paths. The ships swarm around the Philippine vessels to form a tight blockade.

This is how Chinese ships set up a blockade.

Note: Tracks show positions over the prior six hours. Location data not available for all vessels on scene. Times shown in Manila local time.

China, which boasts the world’s largest navy in terms of the number of vessels, has been deploying more boats to these disputed waters over the past year than it did previously. The Philippines sends on average a few ships on its resupply missions, which has mostly remained unchanged.

Mr. Hu, the Chinese expert, said that China’s show of strength in numbers is meant to deter the Philippines without resorting to lethal force. “If China sends only a small number of boats to stop the Philippines, they might have to use guns,” he said.

China has sent more ships to harass Philippine resupply missions.

Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies (C.S.I.S.)

Note: Data shows vessels counted during resupply attempts to Second Thomas Shoal.

From Aug. 27 to Sept. 2, a weeklong period, the Philippine military tracked 203 Chinese ships in contested areas in the South China Sea — the highest number recorded this year.

Tensions have risen at a time when the militaries of China and the United States have had limited contact. On Tuesday, the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command held a rare video conference with Gen. Wu Yanan, the commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command, which oversees the South China Sea. The United States said such calls help “reduce the risk of misperception or miscalculation.”

During the call, Adm. Samuel Paparo urged China to “reconsider its use of dangerous, coercive, and potentially escalatory tactics” in the South China Sea. China, in its own statement about the call, said only that the two sides had an in-depth exchange of views.

On Thursday, though, Lieutenant General He Lei, a former vice president of the People’s Liberation Army’s Academy of Military Sciences, struck a more hawkish note.

“If the United States insists on being a plotter that pushes others to stand on the front line to confront China, or if it has no other choice but to challenge us by itself,” he told reporters at a security forum in Beijing, “the Chinese people and the People’s Liberation Army will never waver.”

Chinese flagged boats anchored at Sabina shoal.

Jes Aznar for The New York Times

World

Iran Live Updates: Global Markets Tumble After U.S. Warns War Could Last Weeks

Published

6 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

President Trump is meeting Germany’s leader at the White House after sidelining his European allies in the decision to attack Iran. Oil and gas prices surged and stock markets fell, after U.S. and Israeli officials signaled that strikes on Iran would intensify.

World

Ambassador Huckabee describes ‘best option’ for Americans looking to flee Israel

Published

7 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Ambassador Huckabee describes ‘best option’ for Americans looking to flee Israel

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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described what he believes is the “best option” for Americans looking to flee Israel amid the ongoing unrest across the Middle East.

Huckabee said overnight, “We are getting a lot of requests regarding evacuating from Israel from American citizens who are currently in Israel or who have family here,” and that there are “very limited” options available.

“As of now, the best is utilizing Israel’s Ministry of Tourism shuttle bus to Taba, Egypt and getting flights from there or going on to Cairo for flights back to the U.S.,” Huckabee said on X. “Not sure when Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv will reopen. Hopefully soon, but even when it does, there will be VERY limited flights with priorities to those who already were ticketed by El Al. Doubtful that other airlines will fly in/out for a while.”

“The Ministry of Tourism is operating buses to Taba. That crossing is further away, but it’s open 24/7. There are some flights from Taba, but there are also options to get to Cairo, and it’s operating normally except to Middle Eastern countries. To get out, it’s the best option for now,” Huckabee added.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, left, and emergency personnel at the site of an Iranian missile strike on a residential building in Tel Aviv, Israel, on March 1, 2026. (Alex Brandon/Pool/AFP via Getty Images; Ronen Zvulun/TPX Images of the Day/Reuters)

Huckabee also said he does not recommend Americans exit via Jordan at this time, as “Flights are not consistent and access across the Allenby crossing has limited hours.”

“All of our personnel from [the] embassy are sheltering in place, but I realize you may need to get people out and back home and not continue to incur hotel costs,” the ambassador wrote.

NETANYAHU INSISTS US AND ISRAEL’S STRIKES ON IRAN WON’T LEAD TO ‘ENDLESS WAR’

People take shelter in Tel Aviv on Sunday, March 1, 2026, after Iran launched missile barrages following attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Saturday. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

U.S. Embassy Jerusalem said in a statement early Tuesday morning that it is “not in a position at this time to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel.” It also mentioned the Israeli Ministry of Tourism’s buses to Taba.

“To be added to the passenger list for a shuttle, you must register via the Ministry’s evacuation form,” it said.

A firefighter works to put out a fire in Tel Aviv after Iran launched missiles into Israel on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (Tomer Appelbaum/Reuters)

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“The U.S. Embassy cannot make any recommendation (for or against) the Ministry of Tourism’s shuttle. If you choose to avail yourself of this option to depart, the U.S. government cannot guarantee your safety,” it added.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

World

Is Iran expanding attacks to target energy and civilian sites in the Gulf?

Published

8 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Is Iran expanding attacks to target energy and civilian sites in the Gulf?

Hours after Israel and the United States launched attacks on Iran on Saturday, Tehran launched retaliatory strikes on Israel and US military assets located in several Gulf countries.

Iran has since struck targets in Israel as well as US military assets in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

While the Iranian attacks initially focused on US military assets, Gulf states said Tehran has expanded attacks targeting civilian infrastructure including hotels, airports and energy facilities.

What sites has Iran hit in Gulf countries?

US military assets

On Saturday, Bahrain said that a missile attack targeted the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, located in the capital, Manama.

Kuwait’s Defence Ministry said that Ali al-Salem airbase came under attack by a number of ballistic missiles, all of which were intercepted by Kuwaiti air defence systems.

In Qatar, the Defence Ministry says it “thwarted” attacks on the country in accordance with a “pre-approved security plan”, intercepting “all missiles” before they reached the country’s territory. On Saturday, Iran had targeted the Al Udeid airbase, which hosts the US forces, the government said.

Over the past four days of the conflict, attacks on Gulf countries have intensified, and governments in the region say they have intercepted large numbers of Iranian missiles and drones.

Bahrain said its air defence systems have destroyed 73 missiles and 91 drones launched by Iran since the start of the latest conflict.

The UAE Defence Ministry spokesperson said that 186 missiles were launched and 172 of them were destroyed. One missile landed on UAE territory. Additionally, 812 Iranian drones were monitored, and 755 of them were intercepted.

Qatar’s Ministry of Defence said that three cruise missiles were detected and intercepted since Saturday. Additionally, 101 ballistic missiles were detected, and 98 were intercepted. Thirty-nine drones were detected, and 24 were intercepted. On Monday, the Qatari Defence Ministry said in a statement that the air force downed two Iranian SU-24 fighter jets.

US embassies

Early on Tuesday, a “limited fire” broke out at the US embassy in the Saudi capital of Riyadh after it was hit by two drones. The attack caused “minor material damage” to the compound, the Saudi Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Black smoke was ⁠seen rising over Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, which houses foreign missions, after the attack, the Reuters news agency reported.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kuwait released a statement on Tuesday saying that a “treacherous Iranian attack” targeted the US embassy building in Kuwait. This came a day after videos emerged that showed smoke emerging from near the embassy in Kuwait City.

The statement called the attack a “flagrant violation of all international norms and laws, including the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Vienna Convention of 1961 on Diplomatic Relations, which grant immunity to diplomatic buildings and their staff even in cases of armed conflict.”

On Monday, three US jets crashed in Kuwait. The US military blamed the crash on “friendly fire”, but a Kuwaiti statement did not give a reason for the incident.

The US embassy in Kuwait on Tuesday suspended operations until further notice, citing the “ongoing regional tensions”.⁠

Energy infrastructure

Qatar’s state-run energy firm and the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), QatarEnergy, announced on Monday that it had halted LNG production following Iranian attacks on its operational facilities in Ras Laffan and Mesaieed in Qatar.

Iranian officials have publicly denied targeting QatarEnergy.

Saudi Arabia shut down operations at the Ras Tanura plant, its biggest domestic oil refinery operated by Saudi Aramco, after a fire broke out at the facility that officials said was caused by debris from the interception of two Iranian drones.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency quoted an unnamed Iranian military source as saying: “The attack on Aramco was an Israeli false flag operation,” adding that Israel’s goal was “to distract the minds of regional countries from its crimes in attacking civilian sites in Iran.”

“Iran has announced frankly that it will target all American and Israeli interests, installations and facilities in the region, and has attacked many of them so far, but Aramco facilities have not been among the targets of Iranian attacks so far,” the source told the agency.

Tasnim quoted the source as saying: “According to data provided to us by intelligence sources, the port of Fujairah in the UAE is also one of the next targets of the Israelis in the false flag operation, and this regime intends to attack it.”

Airports

Airports have been targeted in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE, and also in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq. Officials have blamed Iran for the strikes, though Tehran has not publicly claimed responsibility for the attacks on those facilities.

An Al Jazeera correspondent reported that Erbil International Airport was targeted twice on Saturday, with a drone attempting to target the airport and air defences intercepting and shooting it down.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told a news conference on Tuesday that there were attempts to attack Hamad International Airport, but they all failed.

At Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport, at least one person was killed and seven wounded during what the facility’s authority called an “incident.”

The Dubai media office wrote in an X post that part of Dubai International Airport “sustained minor damage in an incident”, without specifying what the incident was or who was behind it.

The region’s airspace, one of the busiest in the world, has been closed in the wake of the conflict, stranding tens of thousands of travellers. About 20,000 passengers have been stranded in the UAE, while almost 8,000 people are also stuck in transit in Qatar as the airspace remains closed.

Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad, which together operate more than 1,000 flights daily, have suspended operations. Emirates on Monday announced limited flight resumption, but normal operations have not started.

Hotels and residencies

The Interior Ministry of Bahrain said on Saturday that several residential buildings in Manama had been hit, reporting on X that the civil defence was engaged in firefighting and rescue operations at the affected sites.

On Saturday, Iran fired 137 missiles and 209 drones across the UAE, its Ministry of Defence said, with fires and smoke reaching the Dubai landmarks of Palm Jumeirah and Burj Al Arab.

Videos circulating on social media showed smoke emerging from the entrance of a five-star luxury hotel, Fairmont The Palm, in the Palm Jumeirah area.

Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson al-Ansari said on Tuesday that Iranian targets are not just military, but all of the country’s territory. He did not go into detail about which parts of Qatar are specifically being targeted.

Al-Ansari said that all red lines have been crossed; from the north to the south of Qatar, Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan reported from Doha, Qatar.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had targeted a hotel complex in Bahrain because it was hosting US soldiers.

“We are not targeting our brothers or neighbours in the Persian Gulf. But we are targeting US targets, and this is clear,” Araghchi said on Tuesday.

“We started by attacking their military bases, and they evacuated their military bases and moved them to hotels and created human shields for themselves. We try to target military personnel, infrastructure and facilities helping the US and its army in launching operations against Iran.”

Why is Iran targeting civilian infrastructure in the Gulf?

One of the reasons why the Iranians are resorting to hitting civilian infrastructure in neighbouring countries is to “demonstrate their military capabilities,” Luciano Zaccara, Iran and Gulf analyst at Qatar University, told Al Jazeera.

“Iran is retaliating against all the attacks, not in one place, but in almost 10 simultaneously,” he said.

“The other thing is the political message they want to give that if Iran is attacked, the impact will be global,” Zaccara said, noting that the main message is that not only Iran, but the economy of the whole region, will be affected.

“And neither the US, the region, nor the consumers of energy are able to continue this way,” he said.

Zaccara added: “But at this point, they [Iran] don’t care that much, considering that they have been under sanctions for a long time. So it’s not affecting the Iranian economy that much. And the fact that the oil price is going up – even though they export very little – means they are still surviving.”