Washington — As the highly anticipated meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping was set to take place in South Korea Thursday, the U.S. military’s Indo-Pacific Command quietly issued an order this week to stage a “show of force” against recent Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, CBS News has learned.
It’s unclear when this operation would occur, if at all, as military operations can easily be canceled at the last minute, but the execute order from Indo-Pacific Command, the Defense Department’s oldest and largest combatant unit overseeing operations across half the globe, directed American forces to carry out a precision strike demonstration in response to China’s escalating hostilities near disputed waters. Two other sources confirmed that the operation had been prepared as an option, but they said the plan was unlikely to be executed.
If launched, it’s unclear what the HIMARS would target but the operation is intended to signal Washington’s intent to push back against Beijing’s expanding presence in the region and defend what U.S. officials describe as Philippine sovereignty and long-standing fishing rights.
Philippine Coast Guard via AP
Contacted by CBS News, no reply has been returned from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.
The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, delivers its greatest impact against fixed targets that can be located and struck with precision, such as ammunition depots or clusters of troops. Built by defense contractor Lockheed Martin, the system saw extensive use in the post-9/11 Iraq and Afghanistan wars and is prized by Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
Scarborough Shoal, known in the Philippines as Bajo de Masinloc, sits within Manila’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, but Beijing has controlled access to the reef since a tense 2012 standoff between the two nations who both claim ownership of the shoal.
China’s presence there has grown steadily as its coast guard and maritime flotilla of ships regularly shadow or harass Philippine vessels and small fishing boats. In Sept. 2024, a “60 Minutes” crew witnessed China’s naval aggressiveness while onboard a Philippine Coast Guard ship that was rammed by a Chinese coast guard vessel. The Philippine ship was on a mission to resupply ships and stations in the South China Sea at the time but was forced to abandon its first stop as Chinese vessels surrounded it.
Recent high-resolution satellite photos released earlier this month shows what appears to be a floating barrier at the mouth of Scarborough reef. Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Ray Powell, a maritime analyst and director of SeaLight, a Stanford University-affiliated analysis group, posted the photographs captured by Satellogic on X and said China was responsible for installing the barrier.
Both China and the Philippines have installed and later dismantled temporary barriers around the Scarborough Shoal before. One U.S. official said ideally, the operation by Indo-Pacific Command should occur ahead of the U.S.-China trade negotiations or before China establishes a more permanent barrier at the Scarborough reef.
In August, a Chinese Coast Guard ship and a Chinese Navy vessel collided near the reef while pursuing a Philippine Coast Guard cutter. Weeks later, Beijing announced plans to create a “nature reserve” in the area — a move that was condemned by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and viewed by officials in Manila as another step toward solidifying Chinese control.
“Beijing claiming Scarborough Reef as a nature preserve is yet another coercive attempt to advance sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors, including by preventing Filipino fishermen from accessing these traditional fishing grounds,” Rubio said in a statement. “China’s actions at Scarborough Reef continue to undermine regional stability.”
Speaking before fellow leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations and Mr. Trump on Sunday in Kuala Lumpur, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., echoed Rubio’s comments from September and condemned China, without directly naming it, for encroaching on Philippine sovereignty in its push for a “nature reserve” in Scarborough Shoal.
“The attempt of some actors to establish the so-called ‘nature reserve’ status over Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, which is a long-standing and integral part of the Philippines over which it has sovereignty and jurisdiction, clearly violates not only Philippine sovereignty, but also the traditional fishing rights of our people,” said Marcos, who added that China is violating international law. He cited the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Award on the South China Sea arbitration which rejected China’s claims of historic rights over the territory.
