Trump to raise Manila’s concerns with Xi amid China-Philippines maritime tensions

US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would raise Manila’s concerns with Beijing amid heightened maritime tensions between the Philippines and China.

In a phone call with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Trump said he would speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“President Trump assured President Marcos that he will take up the concerns of the Philippines in his next meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping,” acting Philippine presidential spokesperson Dave Gomez said, according to the state-run Philippine News Agency.

The two leaders also discussed the ongoing global, economic and security situation.

US Ambassador Lee Lipton also confirmed the call on the US social media company X. “Great things ahead!” he said.

The call came as the two maritime neighbors accuse each other of trespassing and provocation at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ren’ai Jiao in China and Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines.

The Philippines last Friday also lodged a formal protest with Beijing over what Manila described as a “racist depiction of Filipinos” by the Chinese state-run news outlet China Daily.

The video apparently depicted a monkey in reference to the Philippines.

Beijing said it was “not an act of the government.”

China and the Philippines have overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea, a key waterway through which trillions of dollars in trade pass each year.

Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said Thursday that a China Coast Guard vessel fired a water cannon at and indirectly hit a Philippine fisheries vessel. No injuries were reported.

For its part, the China Coast Guard said it drove away two Philippine government vessels that had “intruded into China’s territorial waters off Huangyan Dao,” state-run news agency Xinhua reported.