An Ayungin Shoal medical evacuation on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, was delayed by nearly 10 hours after China Coast Guard vessels blocked and fired a water cannon near a Philippine ship sent to retrieve a sick Navy serviceman, Philippine officials said. Beijing rejected the account, saying it allowed the transfer on humanitarian grounds.
The patient was moved from BRP Sierra Madre, the Philippine Navy ship grounded on the shoal as an outpost since 1999, to the Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Cabra and given initial treatment, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Friday, according to The Manila Times. The shoal, known internationally as Second Thomas Shoal and in China as Ren’ai Jiao, lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
How the Ayungin Shoal medical evacuation unfolded
Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Philippine military’s spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, said BRP Cabra was about nine nautical miles north of the shoal when a China Coast Guard ship fired a water cannon at it from as close as 400 yards. The spray did not hit the ship directly, but Trinidad said the Chinese vessel kept maneuvering to push BRP Cabra away.
Manila said its crew radioed the Chinese ship about the emergency and explained that a direct approach was needed. Using small inflatable boats over a long distance was difficult because fuel on the outpost was short after China blocked an earlier resupply run, officials said. Philippine officials said Chinese boats also shadowed the inflatable craft. The ship arrived at 7 a.m., and the patient was not transferred until 3 p.m., Trinidad said. He was later reported in stable condition.
China’s version of events
China Coast Guard spokesman Jiang Lue said Thursday night that a Philippine Coast Guard ship approached the area to transfer one injured person from a vessel Beijing calls “illegally grounded,” the South China Morning Post reported. Jiang said China immediately allowed the evacuation by small boat and gave necessary help in line with Chinese law. He accused Manila of “reversing right and wrong” and repeated China’s claim to the Spratly Islands. The China Coast Guard is a state agency, and its statements reflect the Chinese government’s position.
Chinese presence nearly doubles
The Philippine military said it monitored 101 Chinese navy and coast guard vessels around four contested features in September, up from 56 in August. The ships were seen near Thitu Island, Second Thomas Shoal, Sabina Shoal and Scarborough Shoal. Trinidad called the buildup part of a strategy aimed at undermining Manila’s ability to sustain operations in the area.
The incident adds to a string of recent encounters in the region, including the Philippines Batanes standoff with a China vessel and a Chinese militia boat spotted off Taiwan’s east coast.
A long-running flashpoint
Second Thomas Shoal has seen repeated collisions, water-cannon incidents and disputes over resupply missions. A 2016 international arbitral ruling rejected the legal basis of China’s broad historic claims in the South China Sea. Beijing did not take part and calls the ruling “illegal and void,” while Manila regularly cites it. In a related development, Japan and the Philippines used their new logistics-sharing agreement in a joint drill for the first time, with Japanese C-130H aircraft receiving fuel and support, Jiji Press reported via Nippon.com.