On March 29, China Daily, a media outlet controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), published an article, titled “Manila Must Be Warned Against Horrors of War”, blasting the Philippines for “making provocative moves and engaging in reckless brinkmanship, in an attempt to draw major powers into a conflict.”
On April 3, Jonathan Malaya, spokesperson of the National Security Council of the Philippines, said they were prepared to respond to China’s repeated attempts to disrupt supply missions to Second Thomas Shoal at the disputed South China Sea and protect troops stationed there on the grounded old warship BRP Sierra Madre. The Philippines will continue their supply missions despite China’s rhetoric.
“Our commitment to maintain BRP Sierra Madre will always be there, so any attempt by China to interfere with re-supply missions will be met by the Philippines in a fashion that protects our troops,” Malaya told a maritime forum. He added that the counter-measures recently declared by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr against “aggressive” actions by China’s coastguard will be “multi-dimensional” and not purely military in nature.
Indeed, the past year has witnessed a series of worrying face-offs in the disputed South China Sea that have made international media headlines, including the China Coast Guard (CCG)’s use of a military-grade laser to temporarily blind a Filipino crew member in February 2023, as well as the ongoing Sino-Philippine standoffs around Second Thomas Shoal.
During each skirmish, the Chinese maritime militia and coast guard have been castigated by the Philippines for aggressive maneuvers such as near-collisions, use of sonar against divers despite repeated warnings, use of water cannon and dazzling lasers, swarming, and ramming, to name a few measures that have been recorded.
In December last year, Philippine Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro said China is trying to unilaterally claim the whole of the South China Sea as its internal waters.
“Meaning to say, it’s converting the South China Sea into a Lake of China. No? And, that is why it is using Coast Guard vessels, which are huge and massive and equivalent to naval vessels too, to enforce domestic and criminal Chinese law in the whole of the South China Sea. This is part of their illegal narratives, and this is part of their move to unilaterally pound into submission into other countries, to aqueous into their definition of what international law, with respect to the law of the Sea is…”
Likewise, Philippine Ambassador to the United States, Jose Manuel “Babe” del Gallego Romualdez also commented on his country’s ties with China: “Many of us believe the real flashpoint is the West Philippine Sea. The aggression we face today is very real because China will not let up on its over-expansive claims in our territorial waters. With all the dangerous maneuvers that are happening, one major accident could trigger the US or the Philippines to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty – which is why we just have to hope that every morning when President Xi wakes up, he will say, ‘today is not the day.’”
China has dismissed any responsibility for its actions, accusing Australians, Americans, and Filipinos for being “provocative” instead.
On December 18, 2023, People’s Daily Online published an article putting the blame for Sino-Philippine tensions “completely with the Philippines”, without ample evidence to show sole Philippine responsibility in the tensions. The same article also scolded Manila for disregarding “China’s goodwill, good faith and restraint” and “stirring up trouble by infringing on China’s sovereignty and making provocative moves” in the disputed waters.
According to China, Philippine actions, including the recent Senate decision to approve a bill to establish maritime zones through legislation and manage territorial waters amid tense disputes along some of its sea borders, “severely violates China’s territorial sovereignty in the South China Sea”.
The Philippine Maritime Zones Bill defines the archipelagic boundaries as well as the Philippines’ internal waters and exclusive economic zones. The House passed the bill in May 2023, while the Senate approved it in March this year.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters in Beijing that the act “has attempted to further enforce the illegal arbitral award on the South China Sea by domestic legislation.”
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said China’s expansive claims of almost all of the South China Sea had no legal basis and that the Second Thomas Shoal lay within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. By disregarding an international tribunal and persisting in its actions in the South China Sea as per its own national map and “nine-dash line”, Beijing has shown that it also should bear responsibility for contributing to the rise in tensions.
“China firmly opposes it and has lodged solemn démarches to the Philippines,” Mao said.
Owing to Manila’s campaign of “assertive transparency” in tackling China in the South China Sea by documenting and publishing Beijing’s aggressive actions as proof for all to see, as well as China’s recalcitrant use of water cannons, it is not too difficult for observers to assess if the Philippines is purely to blame for regional hostilities.
“I think we have been very effective with our transparency initiative,” the Philippines’ coast guard’s spokesman Cdre. Jay Tarriela told local radio station DZBB, alluding to his country’s strategy of “naming and shaming” Beijing.
“When we started publicizing these things happening in the West Philippine Sea … every time there is (China’s) swarming and we publicize it, we can expect the Chinese government to pull out those Chinese maritime militia ships regardless of locations.”
West Philippine Sea is the official designation by the government of the Philippines to the parts of the South China Sea that are included in the country’s exclusive economic zone.
“The total number of ships was 135 when we publicized it but a few days later this number went down to 28. We are still hoping that they will leave in the next coming days,” Tarriela said. “We’ll keep on pushing for transparency, telling the world that the Chinese maritime militia are still occupying our exclusive economic zone (EEZ).”
Photo credit: iStock/ grynold
