CHINA WATCHChina's South China Sea Tactics Push Manila to Become More Assertive
In a bold move, the Philippine coast guard this week publicly cut loose a floating barrier installed by China near a disputed South China Sea lagoon, highlighting how Beijing’s actions are fueling forceful responses, analysts say. It also could help rally other countries in the region to stand up to Beijing.
A bold move by the Philippine coast guard this week to publicly cut loose a floating barrier installed by China near a disputed South China Sea lagoon highlights how Beijing’s actions are fueling forceful responses, analysts say. It also could help rally other countries in the region to stand up to Beijing.
“The current [Philippine] government understands the need to foster collective deterrence of denial and punishment with willing partners as an appropriate strategy to impose a red line for China,” said Joshua Espeña, a resident fellow at the International Development and Security Cooperation, a Philippine-based think tank.
China says it floated the 300-meter barrier near the entrance of Scarborough Shoal to keep Philippine fishing vessels away. The fertile fishing area and disputed reef lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone — a 200-mile area off any country’s shore — but has been under effective Chinese control since 2012.
The barriers were installed late last week but by Tuesday, the Philippines announced they had been removed. Shortly after that, the Philippine coast guard released a video on X, formerly known as Twitter, that showed a diver using a knife to cut the floating barriers loose.
Rallying Support
It is not the first time the Philippines released video to highlight what experts call China’s gray zone operations in the South China Sea. In August the Philippine coast guard shared footage of a Chinese coast guard ship firing water cannons at a Philippine vessel conducting resupply missions to a World War II-era warship, the Sierra Madre, which Manila intentionally grounded at the Second Thomas Shoal as a military outpost to safeguard its territorial claim.
Gray zone operations refer to the use of military and non-military offensive tactics to intimidate or coerce, and Manila’s decision to publicize China’s actions could help rally support from the Philippine public and international allies, some analysts say.
“In order to push back against China,” Ray Powell, director of SeaLight at the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University, told VOA by phone, Manila “needs their own people behind them and they have to build a base of international support.”
Manila’s efforts to defend its economic zone also include using larger naval vessels for resupply missions around Second Thomas Shoal and conducting regular military exercises or maritime patrols with like-minded countries including the U.S. and Australia. Some observers say these measures will force Beijing to review its coercive tactics against the Philippines.
