The Philippines is weighing a new approach in the South China Sea where increasing encounters with Beijing have damaged its vessels and injured its crew, according to its defense chief who signaled that he wants maritime operations to be “less telegraphic.”

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“We are re-strategizing the way we do things, naturally with the end in view of both preventing injuries and number two, upholding the dignity of our country,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in an interview in his office in Manila earlier Tuesday.

Teodoro declined to elaborate on the adjustment to the country’s strategy as he said the Philippines has a “range of options” to counter China, which lays sweeping claims in the key waterway. “If you are stuck to one mode, it is easy to anticipate,” he said.

The defense chief’s remarks come as three Chinese coast guard ships fired water cannons at two Philippine vessels near Scarborough Shoal on Tuesday in yet another example of China’s game plan to counter the Philippines’ growing assertiveness in the disputed waters.

Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. since 2022, the Philippines has followed a strategy of transparency, wherein it’s called attention to China’s actions in the South China Sea on social media and through press releases. It remains to be seen how this would change once Teodoro’s new plan materializes, if at all.

“The main point that we have to stress is that we will not give up our presence in the Second Thomas Shoal and we will not enter into any modus vivendi that will compromise our position regarding our rights in the area,” he said. Nestled in the shoal is the Sierra Madre — a crumbling warship that Manila deliberately grounded on the shoal in 1999 to serve as a military outpost.

Along with Taiwan, the standoff between the Philippines and China over a series of contested reefs and islands has become a critical flashpoint in the region. The Philippine military and coast guard have ramped up operations to supply troops and shore up the crumbling Sierra Madre.

Beijing has strongly opposed the delivery of construction materials to the warship, blocking Philippine resupply vessels and resorting to water cannons to prevent the Southeast Asian nation from repairing the ship. On Tuesday, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the Navy spotted three research vessels from China in the Second Thomas Shoal, days after the military said it detected the “unauthorized presence” of a research vessel with a Chinese flag near a province in the main island of Luzon.

China has been “more assertive” and “more visible not only in the West Philippine Sea, but in the eastern seaboard,” Teodoro said, referring to the Chinese research vessel spotted there recently. The behavior may be related to the Philippines’s ongoing military drills with the US known as “Balikatan,” he added.

The US has pledged to stand by the Philippines and is conducting annual joint exercises with the country’s troops through May 10 as ties between the longstanding allies are strengthened under Marcos.

Teodoro said he expects Manila’s military ties with Washington to grow in the coming years. This could include the co-production of defense equipment, as well as greater intelligence sharing with the US.

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Elsewhere, the Philippines is looking to finalize a defense deal with Japan within the year, and is also seeking to start talks with France on a visiting forces agreement. India is also keen to bolster defense ties, he said.

China views Philippine actions in the South China Sea, as well as deepening ties with the US as “provocations,” the defense secretary said.

“The word provocation has been uttered by China several times against Japan, against the Group of Seven,” he said. “I really don’t know what the definition of provocation is in the dictionary of Chinese.”

China-Philippines tensions grow in South China Sea

The News

The Philippines accused China of damaging one of its vessels in the South China Sea on Tuesday, as the two nations face off over a shoal they both claim as their own.

The Philippine coast guard said that one of its ships was damaged by a water cannon used by the Chinese coast guard, while Beijing said that it was expelling Philippine vessels from the disputed waters.

Tensions have been rising in the South China Sea, waters that China claims most of as its sovereign territory, an argument international courts have rejected.

Rusting WWII-era ship at center of conflict

Source:  The Washington Post

In 1999, the Philippines deliberately ran aground a World War II-era ship on the half-submerged Second Thomas Shoal, part of an effort to stake its claim to the South China Sea. The ship has ever since operated as something of a naval outpost for the Philippines — but Beijing in recent years has stepped up attempts, including the use of water cannons, to prevent Manila from bringing supplies to the vessel, The Washington Post reported. The long-running dispute between the two nations is the most dangerous of several maritime arguments between Beijing and Southeast Asian nations and the waterway, the outlet said, could be the site of “Asia’s next war.”

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Philippines forging new alliances, upping risk of broader conflict

Source:  Foreign Policy

Tensions in the South China Sea — parts of which are also referred to as the West Philippine Sea by Manila — have been heating up for years, with China refusing to recognize a UN tribunal that ruled in the Philippines’ favor in 2016. Bolstered by the Beijing-friendly former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, China staked further claims to the region. That is now unraveling, as current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has forged alliances with the US, as well as Australia, Vietnam, and Japan, Foreign Policy noted earlier this month. The “possibility of fatalities, or even the sinking of a vessel, remains real,” wrote Foreign Policy deputy editor James Palmer. “It would create a major crisis that would necessitate rapid de-escalation efforts between China and the United States.”

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US ‘charm offensive’ helped renew ties with Philippines

Source:  The Wall Street Journal

The Biden administration has focused on wooing possible allies in Asia as its relationship with China continues to sour. As a result, ties between Manila and Washington are stronger than they have been in decades, The Wall Street Journal reported. China’s own posturing may be leading its neighbors to rely on the US, one expert noted: “China continues to overplay its hand and drive Manila right into the arms of Washington,” Zack Cooper, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told the outlet. As a result, the US has been able to bolster its military capacity in the region, bringing its total number of marine outposts up to nine. Many of the sites would be crucial for Washington if a war broke out in the region, though they are controlled by the Philippines.