A US Navy guided-missile destroyer performed a so-called Freedom of Navigation operation (FONOP) near disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Wednesday, just two days after two Chinese military vessels collided while chasing a Philippine Coast Guard ship in nearby waters.

MANILA, Philippines -- The United States deployed two warships on Wednesday in a disputed South China Sea shoal, where two Chinese navy and coast guard ships collided two days ago while trying to drive away a smaller Philippine ship in a high-seas accident captured on video, alarming several Western and Asian countries.

American and Chinese naval vessels clashed near Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Wednesday, escalating tensions in the