At a time when China is seeking to play peacemaker in West Asia, it continues to behave like a high school bully in its neighbourhood. A couple of days ago, a Chinese coast guard ship rammed into a Philippine vessel near a contested Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea, the third such intentional collision between naval assets of the two nations in two weeks. The uninhabited shoal is about 140 km off the Philippine province of Palawan, in the internationally recognised exclusive economic zone of the Philippines. That the Chinese vessel was the intruder was a no-brainer as the Philippine ship has been strategically anchored near the shoal since April. Videos showed the Chinese CCG 5205 ramming the Teresa Magbanua, which is among the biggest Philippine Coast Guard cutters.
The flashpoint was the naval equivalent of the PLA’s skirmishes along the Line of Actual Control with Indian jawans for decades. When Indian soldiers gave it back at Galwan on June 15, 2020, it resulted in a massive standoff in Ladakh that is yet to be resolved. New Delhi last week concluded its 31st round of talks with Beijing, with the Chinese readout saying both sides will strictly abide by the border-related agreements and turn over a new leaf in the situation at an early date. However, diplomatic niceties apart, there is little evidence on the ground of the neighbour’s commitment to walk the peace talk.
Manila anchored the Magbanua near the Sabina Shoal to avoid a rerun of Beijing blocking resupplies to Filipino armed forces at another coral atoll they hold, the Second Thomas Shoal. Both countries reached an agreement last month to prevent further confrontation at the Second Thomas Shoal. At the Sabina, Philippines suspects China wants to construct a structure to seize it, like it did at a few other atolls on the South China Sea. The Sabina is part of the resource-rich Spratly Islands, which China wants to grab.
Militarisation of the South China Sea is already on with an expansionist Beijing refusing to accept an international arbitration that rejected most of its extended territorial cartography. The US is bound by a treaty to protect the territorial integrity of the Philippines. If Manila accepts Washington’s offer to escort supply ships in contested outposts, it could complicate the situation further. Big powers ought to enforce rules-based governance and not behave like mediaeval tyrants. An unstable South China Sea is in nobody’s interest.