‘It’s Pure Aggression,’ Says Philippine Military Head Aboard Ship Harassed by China

MANILA, Philippines—The head of the Philippine military said Monday he was with his forces aboard a supply boat when it was blasted with a water cannon, surrounded, and shoved by Chinese coast guard ships over the weekend in the disputed South China Sea. The Chinese communist regime, meanwhile, accused the United States of encouraging the Philippines, its treaty ally, to provoke China for its own purposes, though it provided no direct evidence. The successive days of heated confrontations underscore the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) determination to assert its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea, despite the possibility of fomenting a larger conflict affecting shipping and other maritime activities in the crucial waterway....