China said it deployed naval forces to monitor USS Charleston near Sabina Shoal on 20 October 2026. The Philippines rejected Beijing’s allegation that the American vessel had entered Chinese territory.

The Chinese military’s Southern Theatre Command said the littoral combat ship approached the disputed feature in the Spratly Islands early that morning without Beijing’s approval. According to Reuters and USNI News, the command characterised the passage as unlawful, accused Washington of undermining China’s claimed sovereign rights and maritime security, and called for such activity to stop.

A Philippine military spokesperson offered a different account, telling Reuters that the ship had not crossed into Chinese territory. The spokesperson said countries could not demand advance permission for lawful passage through international waters. The US Navy had not answered Reuters‘ request for comment when its report was published.

Beijing’s extensive South China Sea claims overlap with those of Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. China and the Philippines both claim Sabina Shoal, while Manila has a mutual defence treaty with Washington.

The shoal was also the location of a September collision. The Philippine Coast Guard said a Chinese coast guard vessel struck a Philippine boat undertaking a refuelling mission, according to Reuters. Beijing placed responsibility for the incident on the Philippine side.

Farther north, Taiwan reported a separate confrontation near the Taiwan-administered Pratas Islands on 20 October.

Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration identified the Chinese vessel as China Coast Guard 3102 in its account of the Pratas encounter. The agency said it detected the ship at about 05:00 with its automatic identification system inactive. At about 08:00, it entered waters northeast of Pratas that Taiwan designates as restricted.

Taiwan dispatched Taichung, which sailed alongside the Chinese vessel and issued repeated departure warnings in English and Chinese, the agency said. It also reported a radio exchange in which the Chinese crew denied the existence of the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name, while the Taiwanese crew asserted Taiwan’s sovereignty and independence. The confrontation remained unresolved at the time of the agency’s account.

Reuters said China’s Taiwan Affairs Office had not answered its request for comment. The office had warned the previous week that Taiwan would face consequences after its coast guard used a water cannon against a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas.

The islands lie between Hong Kong and southern Taiwan, with security handled by Taiwan’s coast guard. Beijing claims Taiwan as Chinese territory.

At a Taipei forum on 20 October, the chair of a commission appointed by the US Congress criticised Chinese coast guard patrols east of Taiwan as destabilising, Reuters reported. Taiwan’s National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu told the same event that China had no legal claim to those waters.