CHINA WATCHUS Bolstering Philippines Amid Increasing Assertiveness by China
The U.S. and Philippines will for the first time venture outside Manila’s territorial waters when they begin joint annual combat drills in April. Beijing claims most of the South China Sea as its own, putting it in conflict with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, all of which border the sea. An international tribunal at The Hague has rejected China’s claim.
The U.S. and Philippines will for the first time venture outside Manila’s territorial waters when they begin joint annual combat drills in April, a Philippines government spokesman said Thursday.
Colonel Michael Logico said elements of the Balikatan 2024 drills would be conducted about 22 kilometers (more than 12 nautical miles) off the west coast of Palawan, an island in the archipelago nation that faces a troubled region of the South China Sea.
Chinese ships this month blocked Philippine ships near the Second Thomas Shoal, a reef about 200 kilometers (120 miles) off Palawan that both sides claim.
“The message that we want to send is that we are serious about defending our territory and we have allies,” Logico said at a news conference, according to Philippine media.
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea as its own, putting it in conflict with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, all of which border the sea. An international tribunal at The Hague has rejected China’s claim.
Blinken Visit
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the Philippines this week to bolster relations between the two countries and underscore Washington’s commitment to Manila in the face of an increasingly assertive China.
Blinken on Tuesday cited China’s “repeated violations of international law and the rights of the Philippines: water cannons, blocking maneuvers, close shadowing, [and] other dangerous operations.”
China has been building up its military presence in the South China Sea by building on reefs, including the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which it effectively seized from the Philippines in 2012.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s government has defiantly sought to assert sovereignty over disputed areas by supplying troops and escorting fishing boats. He told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday that he was not trying to start a conflict but “since the threat has grown, we must do more to defend our territory.”
The Philippines announced last week that it would build a new port with U.S. funding on its northern Batanes Islands, 200 kilometers (about 124 miles) from Taiwan.
While the port is expected to be for civilian use, analysts say it could also be used for military purposes and play an important role in defense — and not only for the Philippines.
