US admiral says American ships could sail into a South China Sea standoff to shield an ally amid tensions with China

• A US admiral said that American ships could escort Philippine vessels in the South China Sea.
• Tensions are high in the area as clashes continue between China and the Philippines.
• The US is bound by a treaty to defend the Philippines should an armed attack occur on its forces.

The US could come to the aid of a key Pacific ally as China targets its ships in contested waters, a leading admiral in the Pacific said.

The comments come as tensions rise between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, where clashes have been common occurrences in recent months.

On Tuesday, Adm. Samuel Paparo, head of US Indo-Pacific Command, told reporters at the 35th Annual International Military Law and Operations Conference in the Philippines that it was "an entirely reasonable option" that the US could send ships to escort Philippine vessels on resupply missions, per Reuters.

Paparo noted that "escort of one vessel to the other is an entirely reasonable option within our Mutual Defense Treaty" with the Philippines, which was signed in 1951 and explicitly states that both nations will come to the others' aid should they be attacked.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has said the current conflict in the South China Sea hasn't yet risen to the level of needing to activate the treaty.

Paparo's comments align with his previous statements on the subject, including reaffirming the US commitment to come to the aid of the Philippines if necessary and denouncing China's aggressive behavior in the region.

Paparo didn't explain what types of US ships would escort Philippine vessels. It's also unclear whether the Philippines would want such support, with Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner saying Manila likes to run resupply missions on its own, even as China repeatedly interferes with these missions.

"We are going to try all options, all avenues that are available to us," Brawner told reporters, according to Reuters. "While we can do it by ourselves, we will do it."

But if the Philippines could not continue its missions independently, he added, it would seek alternative options.

China and the Philippines have clashed frequently in recent months as Beijing looks to illegally assert its control over contested areas of the South China Sea, such as the Scarborough Shoal.

The major maritime confrontations have often involved Chinese coast guard vessels harassing Philippine ships with water cannons or ramming them.

But there have been other fights. Earlier this month, for instance, the Philippines accused China's Air Force of endangering one of its light transport planes flying above the region. Manila said China's jets flew very closely to the plane and fired just under ten flares in its flight path. Then a few days ago, the Chinese military was accused of doing the same thing again.