As per Al Jazeera, the Philippines has stopped a scientific survey expedition in the South China Sea following hostile encounters between Filipino fishing vessels and Chinese coast guard and naval forces.

Al Jazeera reported the Philippine Coast Guard reported a harrowing incident on Friday where three Chinese coast guard vessels and four smaller boats engaged in reckless manoeuvres near two inflatable boats operated by the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries. The Philippine boats were trying to collect sand samples from Sandy Cay near the Philippine-occupied Thitu Island. To make matters worse, a Chinese navy helicopter flew perilously close to the boats, posing a significant safety risk.

The incident highlights the continuing tensions between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea, a crucial area through which $3 trillion in trade flows annually. China asserts control over nearly the entire sea despite rival claims from the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

In 2016, the Philippines secured a victory from the International Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which declared China's territorial claims in the region invalid. However, Al Jazeera reported that China has refused to recognise this ruling.

In response to what it called "dangerous harassment" and unsafe actions by Chinese forces, the Philippine Coast Guard decided to halt the survey. Fortunately, no accidents were reported despite the heightened tensions.

Conversely, China reaffirmed its "indisputable sovereignty" over the Spratly Islands, including Sandy Cay, which it refers to as the Tiexian Reef. Beijing stated that the Philippine vessels were intercepted for entering waters near Tiexian Reef without permission and accused them of trying to illegally land on the reef, as reported by Al Jazeera.

This incident coincided with the Philippine forces resupplying and rotating troops stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre vessel, grounded at the Second Thomas Shoal, an area China and the Philippines claimed. The Philippines has also blamed China for using its patrols in the region to intimidate Filipino fishermen.