Maritime discord SCS: Philippines, China on collision course

By Rodion Ebbighausen

WASHINGTON: Two nations, four ships and two naval collisions in a single day — last Sunday, a Chinese coast guard ship collided with a vessel resupplying the Philippine military station on the Second Thomas Shoal, which Beijing claims to be in its territorial waters. Then, a Chinese militia vessel hit a Philippine coast guard ship. Nobody was injured. The Second Thomas Shoal is part of the Spratly Islands, to which many surrounding nations have laid a claim. Manila and Beijing now trade accusations of violating sovereignty in the disputed waters of the South China Sea (SCS).

In early 2023, the mood between Beijing and Manila was completely different. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. praised the “friendship” between the two sides while meeting China’s Xi Jinping in Beijing in January. In turn, China announced its intentions to contribute “more positive energy to peace and stability in the region.”

Specifically, both Asian nations pledged to create a direct emergency line in order to communicate quickly and easily in case of an escalation in the South China Sea. China also promised to invest some $22 billion in the Philippines.

Just two months later, however, the atmosphere of friendship and positive energy seemed to evaporate. In March, the Philippines accused China of pointing a military laser at a Philippine coast guard ship. In August, the Chinese coast guard fired water cannon at a Philippine vessel. And in early October, China deployed a floating barrier to reduce the Philippines’ access to the Second Thomas Shoal. The Philippines removed the barrier. Now, their ships are colliding in the disputed waters. All attempts to reach Beijing via the aforementioned emergency line ended in failure, according to Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo.

The Second Thomas Shoal is around 200 kilometers away from the Philippine island of Palawan. In 1999, Manila purposely ran aground a World War II warship Sierra Madre on the reef, leaving it manned with a handful of marines to reinforce its territorial claim.

The ship is falling into disrepair and is in urgent need of an overhaul. But China has other plans, according to Bill Hayton, associate fellow of the Asia-Pacific Program at Chatham House and editor of the Asian Affairs journal. “I think they want the ship to rust away. And then the feature would be unoccupied, presumably so that China would then occupy it straight away,” he told DW. For China, the issue is much bigger that the reef itself, Hayton added. Under Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the Philippines has been more willing to join forces with the Americans to “try and push back against some of China’s behaviors,” he said.

This new course saw the Philippines expand their defense alliance with the US in April and indicate four potential sites for new US military bases, all of them in the north, close to Taiwan and the South China Sea.

Some observers indicated China may be trying to shore up its claims while the US is distracted by the conflict in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war. But Hayton believes the US military has enough “resources to focus on the South China Sea at the same time as other people are looking at other parts of the world.” The Philippines has also ramped up the pressure this year with its decision to make the dispute public. Its ships now have camera crews to document naval incidents with China.