The United States renewed a warning Monday that it would defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack under a 1951 treaty, after Chinese ships blocked and collided with two Filipino vessels off a contested shoal in the South China Sea.
Philippine diplomats summoned a Chinese Embassy official in Manila on Monday for a strongly worded protest following Sunday’s collisions off Second Thomas Shoal. No injuries were reported but the encounters damaged a Philippine coast guard ship and a wooden-hulled supply boat operated by navy personnel, officials said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called an emergency meeting with the defense secretary and other top military and security officials to discuss the latest hostilities in the disputed waters. The Philippines and other neighbors of China have resisted Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims over virtually the entire South China Sea, and some, like Manila, have sought U.S. military support as incidents multiply.
China’s actions here are imperialism, of a kind. They’re claiming “land” they have no right to, and controlling it at the expense of the smaller nations. They’ve rammed into fishermen boats even.
This is a land grab of international waters and subjugating the nations that use it.
Yes, but there is a rational to their concern around the three island chain. China is heavily import dependent, and a naval blockade would cripple them relatively quickly. They’re a net importer of energy, and raw materials, both of which are vital inputs for a peacetime economy, much less a wartime economy. I believe they are also a net food importer as well.
But to your point, yes, instead of trying to bring their neighbors into a regional economic and military alliance, they’ve opted for the bullying and claiming others territory and territorial waters as their own, which has only pushed their neighbors to seek better ties with America and military armament from the West.
Although, I should add that Japan, South Korea, and Australia are also significant regional military powers and are also strengthening their own bi-laterial ties. Each are also being sought out for greater relations by the smaller Pacific counties as well. Which, again, is all a direct result of Chinese policy.
The irony in all of this, is that China has been the signal greatest benefactor of the post-WW2 globalization, which has been entirely underpinned by US Naval power projection.
Arguably they would be in a safer position if they didn’t try to control those waters. A blockade would’ve stopped Chinese imports, yes, but it also would’ve stopped Chinese exports. And their exports play a significant role in the global economy and international trade. They really didn’t need to secure the area militarily because they had economically guaranteed a blockade would be broken.
This is pure speculation, but I think their belligerence may be what prevents them from rising to a superpower.