China's South China Sea Tactics Push Manila to Become More Assertive
“There is an obvious uptick in engaging friendly powers to build collective strength,” said Collin Koh, a defense scholar at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, in a phone interview. “It seems to have an effect of forcing the Chinese to recalculate and recalibrate their moves going forward.”
Espeña, though, said he believes the rising tension between Beijing and Manila will not stop until one side capitulates.
“I don’t think China is meek enough to set a red line on itself,” he told VOA, adding that he expects Beijing to keep using economic, diplomatic, informational and military tools to deter its Philippine counterparts.
During a daily press briefing Wednesday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Beijing would continue to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests over the disputed reef that the Chinese called “Huangyan Dao.”
On the same day, the Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration issued a warning about planned military exercises in parts of the South China Sea scheduled on September 28. In a statement, the administration said the drills would take place in the morning and evening. No details were released about the location of the exercises.
To counter Beijing’s pledge to defend its territorial interests around the disputed reef, the Philippine coast guard urged fishermen to keep operating in the area.
“We’re going to increase patrols in Bajo de Masinloc and other areas where Filipino fishermen are,” Philippine coast guard spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela told a local radio station on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
Ripple Effect?
As territorial disputes between China and the Philippines are likely to continue, other South China Sea claimant states in the region have also lodged complaints about Beijing’s continuous expansion.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Vietnam’s Foreign Affairs Ministry protested Beijing’s installation of two automatic vessel identification stations in the Paracel Islands, a disputed South China Sea island chain claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan but long occupied by China.
Even though several other Southeast Asian states have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea, Koh in Singapore said countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia are unwilling to assertively confront China as Manila has been doing.
“They don’t appear keen to rock the boat with China,” he told VOA.
If the Philippines successfully pushes back against China’s gray zone operations, other South China Sea claimant states in Southeast Asia may emulate Manila’s tactics in the future.
“If the Chinese are unsuccessful in trying to shape the Philippines’ behavior, there might be a domino effect in Southeast Asia,” Koh said. “Other Southeast Asian countries could get inspired by what Manila is doing and they may do the same thing against China in the South China Sea. That would become very problematic for Beijing.”
William Yang is freelance correspondent covering the Greater China region for @voanews. This article is published courtesy of the Voice of America (VOA).
