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The Brief

The U.S. condemned China for ramming a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea.

Ambassador MaryKay Carlson praised the Filipino crew’s courage and restraint.

The clash highlights rising tensions over disputed maritime territories.

According to the Philippine coast guard, a Chinese coast guard vessel fired a powerful water cannon and then rammed a stationary Philippine government ship near a Filipino-inhabited island in the disputed South China Sea on Sunday, causing minor damage.

There were no injuries among Filipino crewmen of the BRP Datu Pagbuaya, part of the fisheries fleet that provides support to Filipino fishermen. The Chinese coast guard targeted Pagbuaya off the Philippines-occupied Thitu island in the latest flare-up of the long-simmering territorial dispu

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