TAIPEI, TAIWAN — A little more than a week after Beijing and Manila reached an agreement aimed at easing tensions in the South China Sea, the Philippines has accused Chinese coast guard vessels of fresh incursions, harassment and “aggressive maneuvers.”
Analysts say the pressure campaign, which has stepped up in recent days, is part of Beijing’s attempt to test the United States’ commitment to support the Philippines.
“They want to see how far they can push the Philippines under the new administration in the U.S.,” Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, told VOA by phone.
In a statement released on social media platform X last Saturday, the Philippine coast guard said two vessels from the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries encountered “aggressive maneuvers” from three Chinese coast guard vessels while heading to Sandy Cay for a marine scientific survey last Friday.
In one video released by Manila, a large Chinese coast guard vessel was seen moving within a few meters of one Philippine vessel. Another video showed a Chinese helicopter hovering above two inflatable boats carrying Philippine crew members.
Philippine coast guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said the Philippine vessels were forced to suspend the scientific survey due to the “continuous harassment and the disregard for safety” shown by the Chinese coast guard.
In response to Manila’s accusations, Beijing said Chinese coast guard vessels “thwarted” two Philippine vessels’ attempts to “land on” Sandy Cay, which China calls “Tiexian Reef.”
“The vessels attempted to illegally land on the reef and conduct sand sampling. China Coast Guard [CCG] vessels lawfully obstructed the Philippine ships’ course and warned them away,” the Chinese coast guard spokesperson Liu Dejun said in a statement released last Friday.
China views almost all of the South China Sea as its territory and is engaged in a series of disputes with several Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines, that have overlapping claims over the strategic waterway.
Apart from the incident near Sandy Cay, the Philippine coast guard said its vessels had successfully kept Chinese coast guard vessels from operating in waters near the coastline of the Philippines’ Zambales province since last Friday.
“The Philippine Coast Guard [PCG] vessel has maintained the China Coast Guard vessel to keep a distance of 90-100 nautical miles away from the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone,” said Jay Tarriela from the Philippine coast guard in a post on social media platform X on Sunday.
Then on Monday, the Philippine coast guard said its vessels were hindered by Chinese coast guard vessels while trying to recover the body of a dead Philippine fisherman from a Philippine fishing boat.
The series of incidents comes more than a week after senior Chinese and Philippine diplomats vowed to settle territorial disputes in the South China Sea through dialogues during a bilateral consultation.
Although the agreement has allowed the Philippines to conduct resupply missions to its forces near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal since late last year, some experts say the latest incidents are part of a bigger effort by Beijing to drive a wedge between Manila and Washington.
“Beijing isn’t happy with Manila’s assertive stance in the South China Sea and its close ties with the United States, so [these factors] serve as convenient justifications for Beijing to try to push Manila in the South China Sea,” said Collin Koh, a maritime security expert at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
Despite the persistent Chinese aggression, Koh said some in Manila think the Philippines can maintain its current approach in the South China Sea since there is bipartisan support for a more assertive position against China in the U.S. and some Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, have reiterated Washington’s “ironclad” defense commitment to the Philippines during interactions with their Philippine counterparts last week.
“Manila appears to be more cautiously optimistic that it can maintain the current policy, knowing that there is U.S. backing for that,” he told VOA by phone.
To counter Beijing’s pressure campaign, Don McLain Gill, a lecturer in international studies at De La Salle University in the Philippines, said it’s important for the Philippines and its allies, including the United States, to maintain close collaboration in areas such as joint maritime exercises.
Since China is expected to “continue pressing the Philippines into submission with its grey zone operations, which are now shifting from low intensity to high intensity, this must be addressed with more robust presence operations between the alliance and like-minded partners, along with continued support in the Philippines military modernization in line with the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defence Concept,” he told VOA in a written response.
With the Trump administration’s announcement to suspend new funding for almost all U.S. foreign assistance for 90 days, however, Chong in Singapore said Beijing may think there is a window of opportunity to pressure countries like the Philippines.
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