Philippine officials say Chinese forces seized 2 navy boats in disputed shoal, injuring sailors

Manila, Philippines:Chinese forces seized two Philippine rubber boats that were delivering food and other supplies to a military outpost in a disputed...

Manila, Philippines: Chinese forces seized two Philippine rubber boats that were delivering food and other supplies to a military outpost in a disputed South China Sea shoal in a tense confrontation in which some Filipino navy personnel were injured, Philippine security officials said Tuesday.

The United States renewed a warning Tuesday that it is obligated to defend the Philippines, a treaty ally, a day after the hourslong hostilities in Second Thomas Shoal.

The shoal has been occupied by a small Philippine navy contingent aboard a long-grounded warship that has been closely monitored by China's coast guard and navy in a yearslong territorial standoff.

There is fear that territorial disputes in the South China Sea, long regarded as an Asian flashpoint, could escalate and pit the United States and China in a larger conflict. China and the Philippines blamed each other for Monday’s hostilities, the most serious in recent months, but provided few details.

A Philippine government task force overseeing the territorial disputes condemned what it said were "dangerous maneuvers, including ramming and towing” which disrupted an effort to transport food, water and other supplies to the Filipinos manning the territorial outpost on the grounded ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, at the shoal. It did not elaborate.