Fishing net dispute escalates China-Philippines tensions in the South China Sea
Tom Rogan
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Tensions between China and the Philippines are escalating once again.
The coast guard of the Philippines says it has removed a Chinese fishing net within the Philippines’s exclusive economic zone. That net was deployed by the Chinese coast guard within the Scarborough Shoal on Friday. China uses these nets to obstruct fishing vessels from the Philippines.
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This latest incident comes at a sensitive time. Tensions between Beijing and Manila are rising over territorial disputes concerning South China Sea waters within the latter’s exclusive economic zone. As with much of the rest of the South China Sea, Beijing unlawfully claims these waters as its own. Recent weeks have also seen repeated Chinese efforts to prevent the Philippines from resupplying a beached vessel in the Second Thomas Shoal.
Manila is unwilling to let Beijing seize the initiative here. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos’s national security adviser warned that Manila would “take all appropriate actions to cause the removal of the barriers and to protect the rights of our fishermen in the area.” And on Monday, the Philippine Coast Guard released a statement and video suggesting that the net had been removed.
The Philippines is right to take this action. China’s claims over these waters represent a blatant imperialist gambit utterly devoid of legal or historic merit. A treaty defense ally of the Philippines, the United States says it supports Manila’s efforts to defend its sovereign interests. Notably, reflecting escalating economic and political tensions between the European Union and China, the EU’s ambassador to the Philippines has offered Manila his support over the fishing net dispute. This joins a recent statement of support for the Philippines by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. That statement similarly infuriated Beijing.
The collective repudiation of this Chinese escalation is important. Beijing likely laid this net partly in order to see how quickly and forcefully Manila would respond to it. Beijing wants to know whether Manila and Washington have the resolve to contest its aggression. It wants to know whether the EU and other international powers will tolerate its imperialism in fear of losing economic benefits if they do not. In turn, Beijing must not be allowed to bully its way to domination.
While we now wait to see what it does next, Beijing isn’t cooling off. Questioned about the matter on Monday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said that “China has indisputable sovereignty over the island and its adjacent waters and sovereign rights and jurisdiction over relevant waters,” implying that the use of obstructive nets was justified.
The risks are significant. If Chinese vessels use greater force to escalate pressure on the Philippines, a confrontation may occur. And the U.S. will be obliged to enter that confrontation in support of Manila.