South China Sea: the “transparency initiative” success is plain to see, but Chinese pressure on the Philippines means that its key partners must step up more

cross-posted from: feddit.org/post/2686498

The spectre of conflict continues to haunt the South China Sea. After months of harassing Philippine naval vessels near the contested Second Thomas Shoal, Chinese maritime forces are now squeezing in Philippine Coast Guard vessels near the Sabina Shoal. In yet another troubling sign of China’s growing aggressiveness, Chinese Coast Guard forces intentionally rammed into and collided with the Philippine flagship vessel, BRP Teresa Magbanua, on multiple occasions.

Eager to remind the Philippines of its preponderance of force in the contested waters, China has parked the largest armada yet in the Spratly group of islands area. According to Philippine authorities, they have spotted as many as 203 vessels from the China Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia, with as many as 71 hovering just over the Philippine-occupied Sabina Shoal’s horizon.

[…]

Nevertheless, the Philippines is also paying a heavy cost, with China steadily degrading the Southeast Asian nation’s limited pool of high-calibre patrols vessels. Beijing’s swarming and “mission kill” tactics also saw Filipino personnel injured. Thus, there is an urgent need for key allies, especially Washington and Tokyo, to expeditiously provide practicable and effective assistance, including cutters, fast boats and recently-retired warships. Moreover, it’s also high time to review the Philippine-US Mutual Defence Treaty, which has singularly failed to deter China’s “grey zone” tactics in the South China Sea.