Two weeks ago, a Chinese state media outlet offended Filipinos by presenting them as idiotic monkeys under Japanese and American control. Apparently unsatisfied with the alienation this caused, China caused new wounds to its regional credibility this week.
Infuriated by the Philippines’s continued determination to sail freely in the South China Sea, the Chinese coast guard and the Philippines Marine Corps battled with their paddles in the Second Thomas Shoal. The shoal is 105 nautical miles west of the Philippines, well within Manila’s 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. In contrast, it’s a staggering 600 miles south of China’s Hainan Island! And on Friday, the Chinese coast guard fired water cannons at Filipino fisheries vessels in Scarborough Shoal (120 miles from the Philippines, and 470 miles from China).
At first glance, this paddle battle seems a bit farcical. The problem is that it’s only the tip of a larger Chinese imperialist iceberg. But being that the Philippines is a U.S. treaty defense ally and a linchpin of deterring any Chinese attack on Taiwan, this incident is directly relevant to U.S. interests.
In an absurd perversion of history and geography, China claims the South China Sea as its own private swimming pool. In 2016, an international arbitration court utterly rejected these claims. But Beijing’s gall remains unbowed. Today, infuriated by the Philippines’ maintenance of a manned, deliberately run-aground warship (the BRP Sierra Madre) on the shoal, the Chinese coast guard is escalating its harassment. As long as the Philippines has a physical presence in these waters, China knows it cannot dominate them. This is leading Beijing to order its commanders to take increasing risks.
In a major embarrassment for Beijing last August, for example, two Chinese warships collided as they tried to ram a Filipino vessel in a separate Philippines exclusive economic zone. China has also repeatedly attempted to prevent resupply deliveries to the Sierra Madre’s complement. And while video of the most recent incident does not clearly indicate what happened, it does show Chinese coast guard personnel on a speed boat extremely close to the Sierra Madre. Once again, the optics don’t look good for Beijing. Beijing knows it.
Underlining its deep frustration at the Philippines’s effective effort to draw international attention to its bullying, a Chinese government spokesperson declared on Tuesday that “the Philippines distorted facts, falsely accused the Chinese side, and spread disinformation. China strongly deplores and firmly rejects the Philippines’ moves.” The spokesperson warned that unless Manila backs down, “all consequences thereof shall be borne by the Philippine side.”
Here we see Beijing’s reflexive penchant for rabid, screeching rhetoric. Yet, what President Xi Jinping’s regime fails to understand is that this rhetoric only unveils the lie of China’s claim to seek “peace” and “win-win cooperation” with the world. While Chinese Communist Party propagandists love to lecture the international community to “meet halfway” in negotiations, Chinese actions then offer a very different story — such as when a senior Chinese diplomat threatened to behead Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, for example.
Still, the timing of these latest skirmishes is particularly poor for China in that they came alongside this week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers’ summit in Manila.
Fortunately, the Trump administration, which has too often been too deferential to Beijing since re-entering office, has responded robustly to this latest incident. The State Department condemned “China’s dangerous and aggressive actions against Philippine navy personnel at Second Thomas Shoal … and calls on China to immediately cease its destabilizing conduct.” The statement noted that this activity “directly contradicts China’s repeated commitments to resolve disputes peacefully.” It concluded, “We stand with our ally … We reaffirm the July 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling, which found that China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea have no basis in international law. That decision is final and legally binding on both China and the Philippines.”
Arriving in Manila for the ASEAN summit, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood firm, warning that the South China Sea had to remain open and free to maintain the sovereignty and prosperity of regional nations, including the United States. This clarity is crucial. China must know that any direct confrontation with the Philippines will result in U.S. military riposte. Equally important, Rubio should continue to build new regional consensus against China’s aggression. If necessary, the U.S. should also help the Philippines replace the aging Sierra Madre.
Again, however, China is overplaying its hand to its detriment.
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While Beijing much prefers to keep separate its various disputes with different neighbors, its common hostility is encouraging Asia-Pacific nations to increase their defensive cooperation. This is not to suggest that there is any kind of appetite for a U.S.-led NATO-type defensive alliance in the region, but actions such as this week’s paddle battle no longer sit in a vacuum. Instead, in the minds of nervous policymakers, they are only part of a broader portfolio of Chinese bullying. Antics such as Beijing’s recent, inflammatory intercontinental ballistic missile launch into the South Pacific Ocean. Hence why pro-Beijing nations such as Fiji, Micronesia, and the Solomon Islands are now recalibrating their ties with China.
Put simply, Asia-Pacific nations are realizing that what China is doing to the Philippines reflects its far broader ambition. And that Xi’s pursuit of that ambition will see him consume those who fail to make themselves less tempting prey.