Once again, China has escalated the dispute in the South China Sea between itself and the Philippines. On Saturday a dozens Chinese ships including Coast Guard vessels sought to restrict access to the Scarborough Shoal using water cannons and other tactics. Here’s a map showing the location of the Scarborough Shoal. As you can see, it’s a long way from China. This map also shows the dashed line which China claims outlines its territorial rights to nearly all of the sea.

right here to be exact. u are correct, but it's MUCH deeper into Philippines waters. china is attacking https://t.co/qVhPdXszvf

— IO Aircraft Incorporated (@io_aircraft_inc) December 11, 2023

As is the norm these days, there was a journalist aboard the Philippines’ supply boat.

The Filipino fishers on wooden boats waved at our vessel, a Philippine fisheries boat, from less than a mile away, but no one on our ship dared to move. Encircling us were two Chinese Coast Guard ships and five Chinese militia vessels.

Then came the water cannon.

One of the Chinese Coast Guard ships had fired the high-intensity water jet at our boat to prevent us from getting closer to fishermen near the Scarborough Shoal, a triangular chain of reefs and rocks 140 miles west of the Philippines. The blast of water rocked the vessel like an earthquake at sea. “Emergency!” Armando Hachuela, the ship’s captain, shouted to the crew and journalists on the deck. “Inside, now!”…

The ships on Saturday’s mission departed from a port in the western Philippine province of Bataan and arrived near the Scarborough Shoal after 18 hours on rough high seas. Two 100-yard-long Chinese Coast Guard ships were already there. Not long after, several Chinese militia ships joined them. The Chinese ships blocked the Philippine ships from reaching the fishers, eventually colliding with at least one of the vessels in a standoff that lasted more than eight hours.

Some video of the clash near Scarborough Shoal.

China Coast Guard blasted water cannon toward a 🇵🇭 Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels near Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal this morning (Dec. 9). The water cannons were used at least 8 times pic.twitter.com/IOmamQWgRa

— Frances Mangosing 🇵🇭 (@FMangosingINQ) December 9, 2023

WATCH: The Philippines called for China to stop its aggressive activities in the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, which is claimed by both countries, after China's coast guard fired water cannon at a Philippine fisheries bureau vessel https://t.co/oKB15oRCGS pic.twitter.com/9fhNhAxlob

— Reuters Asia (@ReutersAsia) December 9, 2023

Both the Philippines and the US condemned China’s behavior.

The noontime assault by Chinese ships off the Scarborough Shoal, one of the most aggressive this year, caused “significant damage” to the communication and navigation equipment of one of the three Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ships, Filipino officials said.

They said without elaborating that suspected militia vessels accompanying Chinese coast guard ships used a long-range acoustic device that could impair hearing, causing “severe temporary discomfort and incapacitation to some Filipino crew.”

The US Ambassador to the Philippines posted this:

We condemn PRC's aggressive, illegal actions against 🇵🇭 BFAR vessels lawfully operating in the 🇵🇭 EEZ. This PRC behavior violates international law and endangers lives and livelihoods. We stand with our Philippine #FriendsPartnersAllies in support of a #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific.

— Ambassador MaryKay L. Carlson (@USAmbPH) December 9, 2023

None of which made any difference. The next day China repeated the same tactics near another disputed reef, Second Thomas Shoal (which is also visible in the map up above). This time the head of the Philippines military was aboard one of the supply boats.

Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that China was escalating its aggression in the contested waters but said it would not deter Filipino forces from defending their territorial interests.

More than 100 official Chinese and other government-linked ships have swarmed the high seas around the contested Second Thomas Shoal, where a marooned Philippine navy ship that Brawner visited has stood for decades. He said their presence was much bigger than in previous months.

“It’s pure aggression,” Brawner said. “I witnessed how many times the big Chinese coast guard and militia ships cut our path. They water-cannoned us, then bumped us. It’s angering.”

There was a collision between one of the Chinese Coast Guard ships and a smaller Philippines supply boat.

The Philippine Coast Guard releases video of the collision between a PH Navy-chartered supply boat and a Chinese Coast Guard vessel within the vicinity of the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on Sunday morning. Both sides claim their vessels got rammed. https://t.co/UKJnILzbaq pic.twitter.com/KN14u9wgrg

— Barnaby Lo 吳宗鴻 (@barnabychuck) December 10, 2023

This clip shows they did eventually make it to the Sierra Madre, the rusty old ship which the Philippines grounded on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999.

AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. and Western Command Commander Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos join troops at the BRP Sierra Madre after China Coastguard watercannons Philippine resupply ships @gmanews @24orasgma pic.twitter.com/g4dNnkLBrL

— Joseph Morong 🇵🇭 (@Joseph_Morong) December 10, 2023

And again the US condemned China’s reckless disregard for international law.

Read the statement on U.S. support for the Philippines in the South China Sea following the PRC's dangerous and unlawful actions on December 9 and 10: https://t.co/jw62yM9pqr#FriendsPartnersAllies #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific pic.twitter.com/4AVs11F2Kf

— U.S. Embassy in the Philippines (@USEmbassyPH) December 11, 2023

So less than a week after the US made a show of force in the area on behalf of the Philippines, China is pushing back and trying to lay claim to islands which are clearly not theirs. This is what China has been doing all year but this weekend set a new bar for how far they are willing to go.