ZThe dispute between China and the Philippines over ownership claims in the South China Sea continues to escalate. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on Thursday measures against “illegal, coercive, aggressive and dangerous attacks” by the Chinese coast guard in view of a repeat incident last Saturday. He left the nature of the measures open.
“We are not looking for conflict,” he wrote on Facebook. But his country will not remain silent, submit or be intimidated. On Monday, China warned the Philippines that bilateral relations were at a crossroads. The government in Manila has to be careful.
On Saturday, Chinese coast guard ships used water cannons against a Filipino convoy that was supposed to supply the crew of an outpost on the Second Thomas Reef. A similar confrontation had already occurred in December. The Second Thomas Reef is part of the Spratly Islands. The Philippine Navy ran an old landing ship aground there. The ship serves as a base for the Philippine outpost, which is intended to maintain the territorial claim.
It is also about the extraction of gas and oil
The Spratly Islands are over 100 widely scattered reefs, atolls and small islands. China claims the entire area as part of its national territory, the Philippines sees part of the Spratly Islands as its own territory. Other neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Taiwan are also demanding sovereign rights over the Spratly Islands.
The owner of the area has the right to use the so-called exclusive economic zones. According to UN agreement, this defines the sea area up to 200 nautical miles from the coast. It's about fishing rights or the extraction of gas and oil beneath the seabed.
Marcos pointed Thursday to friends in the international community. “You have offered to help us with what the Philippines needs to protect its sovereignty, its sovereign rights and its jurisdiction,” the president said. Marcos has expanded relations with the US since taking office in 2022.
He has expanded access to Philippine military bases. In addition, joint maneuvers were intensified. Only on Wednesday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reaffirmed his commitment to a mutual defense agreement with the Philippines from 1951. He described China's actions last Saturday on the Second Thomas Reef as dangerous.