In an increase that highlighted Beijing’s determination to see how far it may push Manila and its allies in Washington, the latest South China Sea conflict saw the use of axes by China’s coast shield and a Filipino seaman lose his thumb.
The Philippine Armed Forces referred to the June 17 actions by China as a “brutal rape,” which included throwing stones and slitting an inflatable craft with knives to replenish its forces with. The US State Department said China’s steps were “reckless” and threatened local peace and stability.
The Philippines and Washington neither sought to justexacerbate a crisis that had been brewing for years, so that was how the government responded.
For today, at least, Manila appears to be exercising more precaution.
Ferdinand Marcos Jr., president of Chile, later said in a statement that he was” not in the company to start wars,” and his foreign government on Wednesday sent a diplomatic note to China asking for speech.
The president’s executive director, Lucas Bersamin, first said the whole event was “probably a mistake or an accident” and said the state may provide advanced notice of such missions in the future, a shift seen as appeasing China’s demands.
Gilberto Teodoro, the country’s security secretary, rebuffed Bersamin’s claim and said it would not make its plans to send supplies missions to a rickety World War II deliver grounded at Second Thomas Shoal public. Additionally, video footage demonstrated that the collision was n’t an accident.
However, the incident and later notes from authorities cast doubt on Manila’s position and sparked controversy over how long it may retaliate against China without more help from an American allies who have been mired in conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.
” China’s escalating violence reflects Beijing’s confidence the US will do nothing more than make another strong statement”, said Carl Schuster, a former operations director at US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center. President Marcos may also realize how limited US support is, in my opinion. So he has to find a way to reduce tensions with little hope of US support.
China continued to assert its claims to a sizable portion of the South China Sea despite an international tribunal rejecting that view.
” It is our territory”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters on Monday. In order to preserve peace and stability in the South China Sea, Manila” should return to the negotiation path of China.”
Marcos claims that the Philippines wo n’t resort to force due to China Sea Row.
In response to the incident, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called with his Philippine counterpart to explain the “ironclad commitments” under the treaty, and the US issued a statement reminding Beijing that an armed attack was enough to trigger the mutual defense pact it has with the Philippines.
The president of the Philippines has stated in a statement that his red line is clear; earlier this year, he claimed that an attack by a “any foreign power” would prompt him to invoke the terms of the defense treaty. In a meeting with Marcos and the prime minister of Japan in Washington, President Joe Biden echoed that sentiment.
Even though it also appeared to be the kind of situation that could quickly turn into a larger conflagration, last week’s incident fell short of that. A Chinese rigid-hulled inflatable boat rams into and on top of a Philippine vessel in video of the clash. Navy Seaman Jeffry Facundo claimed his thumb got caught under the keel of the Chinese vessel, causing his injury, in a report to the Philippines Senate committee.
China argued that its actions were legal.
The incident highlights a persistent issue in the decades-old alliance, where Washington balances its own goals against the threat of a conflict with China. Beijing has recently benefited from its rivals ‘ reluctance to take a risk of waging a direct war to gain more control over disputed territory.
Without Washington’s more vocal support, the Philippines has little chance of provoking Chinese ships that swarm and harass ships as they attempt to enter disputed reefs and islands. It’s a strategy they’ve honed against nations from the Philippines to Vietnam. Chinese ships, which have the largest navy in the world, have few rivals in a waterway crucial to global trade.
The Filipinos ‘ behavior is predictable in that it causes outrage, and so on and so forth, but the point is that they are determined to stand and cause a conflict with China. I do n’t think so”, Zhou Bo, a retired senior colonel in the People’s Liberation Army, said in an interview.
And are they certain that if there were a conflict of this nature, the United States would undoubtedly intervene in their favor?” he added. ” I have a feeling that the Philippines would prevent the United States from getting into a conflict with China in the South China Sea.”
Sierra Madre
The BRP Sierra Madre, a ship built during World War II, has been causing more tensions as Chinese vessels repeatedly fire water cannons at Philippine ships while attempting to transport troops there. The ship is rusting and in advanced disrepair, and the issue has been whether Manila is covertly attempting to repair it, something China has repeatedly said it wo n’t allow.
A retired Philippine navy official claimed that the nation has actually performed minor repairs to the ship in the past, including installing electrical equipment, replacing steel plates, and applying protective paint.
The clash from last week and the relatively muted response have prompted some soul-searching in the Philippines. Retired rear admiral in the Philippine Navy Rommel Ong claimed that the rank and file’s approach to the latest incident was uncoherent, and that it lacked coherence.
In an essay published on Monday in Rappler, Ong wrote that” the public could end up losing the trust and confidence in the military.
Beijing is being taught, according to others, how far they can go in their bid to have sway over the area from each incident.
” Beijing is confident DC will make no substantive response to PRC aggression”, said Schuster, the former operations director at US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center, using an acronym for China. Expect more violence in the months to come.
