Escalating against the Philippines, China attempts to exploit US distraction
Tom Rogan
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As Washington’s foreign focus is absorbed by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, China is escalating its threats against the Philippines. Considering that the Philippines is a U.S. treaty defense ally, this is no small concern.
Earlier this week, more than three dozen Chinese maritime militia and coast guard vessels “swarmed” the Second Thomas Shoal. They then fired water cannons and rammed Philippines vessels. This shoal is located within the Philippines’s exclusive economic zone and 717 miles from China’s Hainan island. Still, China claims ownership over it along with the near entirety of the South China Sea. China is employing these hostile actions to obstruct the resupply of Philippines marines stationed aboard a deliberately beached vessel in the shoal. Manila’s concern is that Beijing’s aggression will grow to a point where its personnel must use lethal force to defend themselves.
War could follow.
BIDEN OFFICIALLY A TARGET OF HOUSE IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY AFTER VOTE
The Biden administration has rightly pledged its “ironclad” commitment to defend the Philippines in such a scenario. With Beijing’s puppet president Rodrigo Duterte now replaced by the courageous Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, the U.S. has an ally worthy of support in Manila. But this growing crisis is just one element of a far more ambitious Chinese effort to secure imperial control over this region. Just as Russia must be prevented from securing imperial control over Ukraine and the Baltic states, China must not be allowed to do the same in the western Pacific. Three trillion dollars in trade flows through the South China Sea each year, so Beijing’s successful domination of these waters would have profound consequences for global prosperity. It would also allow Beijing to extract political submission from regional states in return for allowing them to trade.
Bolder American action is now required in the face of this threat.
The U.S. should increase its joint naval patrols in these waters, sending destroyers rather than useless littoral combat ships in a clear signal to Beijing. The U.S. should also encourage other nations such as Japan, Australia, South Korea, France, and the United Kingdom to join these patrols. The more nations that China sees standing against it, the more it will be deterred. And the U.S. should push its allies to clarify what they will do if a conflict breaks out between the U.S., the Philippines, and China. On this concern, the Washington Examiner recently asked U.K. foreign secretary David Cameron whether the U.K. would fight alongside the U.S. in such a scenario. He demurred.
Top line: tensions are growing. The U.S. and its long-standing Pacific ally must show Xi Jinping that they won’t buckle and are not distracted by conflicts elsewhere.