Anadolu staff
24 July 2026•Update: 24 July 2026
China on Friday reiterated that the US is “not a party” to the South China Sea dispute after US President Donald Trump assured Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that he would raise Manila’s concerns with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Asked about Thursday’s phone call between Trump and Marcos, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Beijing had “taken note of relevant reports.”
“The US is not a party to the South China Sea issue,” Lin told reporters in Beijing, according to Beijing-based state-run daily Global Times.
“Facts have shown that attempts to make provocations with the help of non-regional countries will only end up being used as a tool by others and reaping the bitter fruit of their own making,” he added.
Trump told Marcos he would discuss the Philippines’ concerns during his next meeting with Xi, possibly in September when the Chinese president visits the US, according to acting Philippine presidential spokesperson Dave Gomez.
The call came amid renewed maritime tensions between Beijing and Manila over disputed features in the South China Sea, particularly the Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ren’ai Jiao in China and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines.
On Friday, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Jay Tarriela said the China Coast Guard (CCG) fired its water cannon at a PCG vessel, which was conducting a maritime patrol approximately 15 nautical miles northeast of Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal, and identified as Huangyan Island by Beijing.
Condemning the alleged CCG actions, Tarriela said that the PCG and Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources personnel, aboard the Filipino vessels, “are safe.”
However, the CCG said it took “necessary measures to drive away” Philippine vessels that “illegally intruded” into China’s territorial waters of Huangyan Dao.
The CCG vowed to “resolutely safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests,” according to state-run Xinhua News.
It is the second such engagement between the rival sides since Thursday.
China and the Philippines have competing claims in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass each year.
