The United States and Vietnam warned on Monday against the “threat or use of force” in the disputed South China Sea, days after the latest clash involving Chinese vessels. President Joe Biden and Vietnam’s Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong said the competing claims on the strategic waterway must be settled under international norms. Last week, the Philippines accused Chinese Coast Guard and “militia” boats of harassing two of its own coast guard vessels as they took supplies to Filipino troops on the Second Thomas Shoal.

US, Vietnam warn China on SCS. (2023, September 12). Manila Standard, p. A2.