Meanwhile, a Philippine government release from the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea stated that ships from the People’s Liberation Army Navy, China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia performed “dangerous maneuvers.” However, there is no mention of injury to Philippine personnel in the release. The statement also claimed that Chinese forces rammed and towed Philippine vessels, although it’s unclear to what extent the latter occurred during the incident. This is the first reported instance of China towing – defined as pulling, pushing or hauling – Philippine vessels in their South China Sea disputes.
The latest incident in the waters adjacent to China’s Ren’ai Reef [AKA Second Thomas Shoal], in which there was slight collision when an illegally intruding Philippine supply ship dangerously approached a China Coast Guard vessel, is the latest in a series of risky encounters between Chinese law enforcement vessels and Philippine vessels near Ren’ai Reef in recent months due to the Philippines’ brazen land-grabbing antics.
Such incidents have occurred with increasing frequency as the Philippines has stepped up its efforts to ship construction materials to an aging warship it deliberately ran aground on the reef so it can make it a permanent facility, thus driving in its stake to claim the reef as its territory.
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With new procedures coming into effect on June 15, the China Coast Guard will be equipped with more forceful legal measures to enforce maritime law and advance China’s maritime legal governance in its territorial waters, including detaining foreign ships that have illegally entered China’s waters.
U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson condemned China’s “aggressive, dangerous” maneuvers in a post on X, saying the collision had “caused bodily injury.”
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In response, the Philippine coastguard said on Monday it has ordered the deployment of two vessels to patrol and ensure the safety of Filipino fishermen at Scarborough Shoal – a second flashpoint about 640 km (345 nautical miles) away from Second Thomas Shoal.
Separately, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement it had concluded a two-day joint maritime exercise with the militaries of Canada, Japan, and the Philippines’ within Manila’s EEZ in the South China Sea.
According to experts, Marcos’ tough words serve domestic political purposes when he needs to shift Filipinos’ discontent over his administration’s performance on livelihood and the economy, and are also a response to the “support” from countries outside the region, including the US.
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“The US is the biggest external disturbance to peace and stability in the South China Sea,” Ding said, “without instigation from US, it is more likely that China and the Philippines would manage their differences through negotiation and consultation.”
MANILA –“We are not satisfied with minimum [deterrence capability alone]…movement is life, stagnation is death,” Colonel Micheal Logico, a top strategist at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), recently told this reporter when asked about the country’s evolving defense strategy.“We [need] to elevate ourselves into a world-class armed forces,” he added.
Del Pilar’s sister ship, the BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PS-16), sailed from Subic port the same day. On Tuesday, however, the US side asked for a 24-hour delay due to “operational requirements.” …
What is your intention, over?” “Philippine warship 15, this is Chinese Navy warship 570 conducting lawful activities in our territorial seas, over,” came the reply.
One more time, from the Philippine ship: “Chinese warship 570, you are within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Your actions will affect Philippine-Chinese relations and will be reported to concerned authorities, over.” …
On Wednesday, US Navy destroyer USS Sterett (DDG- 104), one of the escort ships of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), was the only American ship to arrive for the exercises.
Canceled, shortened
Two other US warships and the USS Carl Vinson were expected to join but did not show up due to “operational necessity.”
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“Unfortunately, they did not give specifics (why the other activities were canceled). They just said that ‘due to some operational necessity,’ they have to reallocate some of their forces to other tasks,” Carlos said in an interview on board the Del Pilar.
In the name of resupply, the Philippines has repeatedly sent vessels carrying illegal building materials in attempts to reinforce a warship that has been illegally grounded on Ren’ai Reef since 1999 to permanently occupy the Chinese reef.
Those attempts were blocked by China Coast Guard vessels with legitimate and professional restriction measures.
The statement of Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro just this week, where he said that entering into bilateral negotiations over the dispute in the South China Sea (SCS) between the Philippines and China will just be playing into China’s playbook, is quite perplexing. Teodoro says bilateral talks with China on the issue over the SCS dispute will only hamper and strangle the Philippines’ rights and position. This is one of the reasons why the Philippines is seeking multilateralism.
Philippine lawmakers have pushed the Marcos administration to amend two defence treaties with the US and make the long-time security ally cough up for using Manila’s military bases to fund a cash-strapped armed forces pension scheme that is staring at “financial collapse”.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 