In mid-April, China’s state-owned media agency Xinhua reported that the country is calling on the Philippines, Japan, and the U.S. to cease violating its sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea. China is claiming almost the entirety of the South China Sea, and in recent months, there were numerous confrontations between Filipino boats and Chinese Coast Guard vessels.

“They stoke confrontation in the name of cooperation. Their so-called summit is indeed a platform to launch baseless attacks against China on the Taiwan question and maritime issues, blatantly interfering in China’s internal affairs and undermining China’s security and strategic interest,” a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines declared in response to the recent trilateral summit between the U.S., Japan, and the Philippines on April 11. 

“The Chinese side expresses strong dissatisfaction with and resolute opposition to this,” the spokesperson added. 

Similarly, in March, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian maintained that China Coast Guard’s actions in the South China Sea were “justified, lawful, professional, restrained, and beyond reproach”, exhorting Manila to cease infringing on “China’s sovereignty and rights”.

Not wanting to kowtow to Beijing’s demands, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on March 15 that his country’s sovereignty would be a priority, if talks with China regarding joint exploration of the South China Sea resume. 

“We cannot, at any point, somehow compromise the territorial integrity of the Philippines,” Marcos told reporters. 

Besides, notwithstanding China’s disapproval, the Philippines has signaled openness to joint military patrols with other countries in the disputed waters. For instance, in early January, the U.S. and Philippines held their second joint South China Sea patrol, referred to as a Maritime Cooperative Activity, indicating a significant leap in bilateral military cooperation. Additionally, both countries have bolstered their defense cooperation since Marcos Jr assumed power in 2022.

In September 2023, Marcos ordered the Philippine Coast Guard to remove a floating barrier installed by China in the southeast portion of Bajo de Masinloc, also called the Scarborough Shoal, in the disputed waters. The shoal, boasting fertile fishing ground, is located 200 kilometers west of the Philippine island of Luzon.

Marcos said his administration will not permit foreign entities to erect a barrier “that is within the Philippines”. 

“We are not looking for trouble. What we will do is continue defending the Philippines, the maritime territory of the Philippines, the rights of our fishermen who have been fishing there for hundreds of years,” Marcos announced.

On April 22, thousands of Filipino and American troops launched a joint military exercise, known as Balikatan, or “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog, in the Philippines.

Philippine Colonel Michael Logico told reporters: “The purpose of armed forces, why we exist, is really to prepare for war. There’s no sugar-coating it… for us not to prepare, that’s a disservice to the country.”

For years since the late 1990s, China has been trying to gain control of the Second Thomas Shoal from the Philippines. Although this tiny, uninhabited reef is located a considerable distance away from mainland China, it has become a hotbed for escalating hostilities between Manila and Beijing. 

In 1999, Manila purposely grounded the old warship BRP Sierra Madre at Second Thomas Shoal to forestall against a Chinese expansion in the region. Beijing has called for the removal of the BRP Sierra Madre, and has constantly attempted to obstruct Philippine boats from delivering supplies to troops aboard the warship. 

Also, the Chinese government has been complicit in prolonged guerilla efforts to wrestle control of the island. In 2013, China deployed a navy vessel and paramilitary ships to the area. In 2014, it impeded Manila’s attempts to resupply the BRP Sierra Madre for three weeks, prompting Manila to airdrop supplies. Since 2022, the Chinese Coast Guard and militia fishing vessels have blocked Philippines’ resupply missions more frequently and aggressively. For example, in October 2023, China resorted to firing water cannon, pointing vessels with a military-grade laser, and performing “dangerous blocking maneuvers” that led to two collisions, among others.

Despite an international tribunal in 2016 that Second Thomas Shoal is within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, China has ignored the ruling, and built and militarized various artificial islands.

“(China) wants to use its superior strength – in short, they want to bully small countries into submission. And it is very important for the international community to know that,” Colonel Medel Aguilar, a spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, told the Guardian news media.

Beijing’s treatment of the Philippines is a barometer of its treatment of places like Taiwan, Vietnam, and other South China Sea claimants. Undeniably, the China’s expansionist actions in the South China Sea, at the expense of the sovereignty of Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines, belie Beijing’s insistence that it has no plans to upend the existing world order.

Photo credit: iStock/ BeeBright