The United States on Friday called Chinese actions in using water cannon against Philippine resupply boats in the South China Sea “dangerous, provocative, and unjustified,” and warned that an armed attack on Philippine vessels would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments, APA reports quoting Reuters.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington stood by its treaty ally the Philippines amid an “escalation that directly threatens regional peace and stability.”
Beijing “should not interfere with lawful Philippine activities in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone,” he said in a statement.
“The United States stands with our Philippine allies in upholding the rules-based international maritime order and reaffirms that an armed attack on Philippine public vessels in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments,” Price said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed American defense commitments to Manila and pledged to “stand with our Philippine allies” in a call on Friday with his counterpart in the Philippines, Delfin Lorenzana.