China Tracks USS Charleston Near Sabina Shoal, Taiwan Reports Pratas Standoff
Beijing says its navy monitored an American warship in the Spratly Islands, and Taipei reports a coast guard confrontation farther north.
China’s military said on Tuesday, October 20, that it had sent naval forces to track the USS Charleston after the US warship entered waters near Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea. Separately, Taiwan reported a standoff with a Chinese coast guard ship farther north in the waterway.
The Southern Theater Command said the Charleston “illegally intruded” into waters adjacent to Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands in the early hours of Tuesday without approval from the Chinese government, and that the navy dispatched forces to track and monitor the vessel. The command said the move “infringes upon China’s sovereign rights and interests” and is “detrimental to regional peace and stability,” and it called on Washington to “immediately cease such activities.”
The United States Navy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Washington generally describes such deployments as freedom-of-navigation operations, although its last publicly known operation of that kind in the South China Sea took place more than a year ago.
In a separate incident on Tuesday, Taiwan’s Coast Guard said a Chinese coast guard ship entered restricted waters near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands. Taiwan sent its vessel Taichung to warn the Chinese ship away, and both sides broadcast messages to each other.
The Chinese ship said “the so-called Republic of China does not exist,” a reference to Taiwan’s official name. The Taiwanese ship replied: “The Republic of China, Taiwan, is a sovereign and independent country.” Taiwan’s coast guard said the standoff continues.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last week, it said Taiwan must “bear the consequences” after Taiwan’s coast guard used a water cannon against a Chinese fishing boat near the Pratas Islands.
The Pratas Islands lie roughly between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong. They are lightly defended, and security there is the responsibility of Taiwan’s coast guard. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory, a claim the government in Taipei rejects.
Background on Sabina Shoal
Sabina Shoal is a coral reef formation in the Spratly Islands. It lies about 140 kilometers, or 86 miles, from the Philippine island of Palawan and about 1,200 kilometers from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan Island. The Philippines, which calls it Escoda Shoal, says it lies within its exclusive economic zone. China, which calls it Xianbin Jiao, claims sovereignty over the shoal and its adjacent waters.
The Philippine Coast Guard stationed the BRP Teresa Magbanua at the shoal in April 2024, and China responded by deploying one of its largest coast guard ships, nicknamed “The Monster.” Philippine and Chinese vessels collided at least three times near the shoal in the following months, and Manila later pulled its ship back after a tense standoff of about two months.
Last month, a Chinese coast guard vessel rammed a Philippine boat on a refueling mission near the shoal, according to the Philippine Coast Guard. China blamed the incident on the Philippine side.
Wider dispute
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, despite overlapping claims by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. Recent tension has been most pronounced between Beijing and Manila, a United States treaty ally. A tribunal in The Hague ruled in 2016 that China’s sweeping claims had no legal basis under international law, a ruling Beijing rejects.
The American Navy has conducted operations in the waterway for years. Navy records list a littoral combat ship named USS Charleston, assigned to Destroyer Squadron Seven, that spent an extended period in the South China Sea in early 2022 as part of a rotational deployment in the Indo-Pacific. Neither the Chinese military statement nor the reports available so far specify the ship’s class.
