Two US Navy warships spotted near Zambales during Philippine Coast Guard flight

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Philippine Coast Guard said Wednesday it spotted two US Navy warships near Zambales during a surveillance flight over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, as tensions in the strategic waterway continue to rise.

The PCG Caravan aircraft, which carried members of the media, documented the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG-76) and the littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati (LCS-20) at 102 nautical miles off Zambales.

“We were able to document the presence of two US Navy vessels… roughly around 100 nautical miles from Zambales,” PCG spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela told ‘The Newsmaker.’

“The freedom of navigation patrols being conducted by the US Navy is actually a direct challenge of the invalidated and illegal claim of the People’s Republic of China in the entire South China Sea,” he said.

The PCG also reported sightings of four China Coast Guard ships - numbered 5303, 4202, 3502, and 5306 and six Chinese maritime militia vessels operating outside the shoal.

In a statement, China’s Southern Theatre Command accused the Higgins of entering its waters “without approval of the Chinese government,” calling the maneuver a “serious” violation of China’s sovereignty and security. It said the US action “severely undermined peace and stability in the South China Sea” and vowed to stay “on high alert at all times.”

The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet rejected Beijing’s claim, calling it “false” and saying the Higgins had “asserted navigational rights and freedoms” near Scarborough Shoal consistent with international law.

“The United States is defending its right to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” the Seventh Fleet said. “Nothing China says otherwise will deter us.”