Following the most heated vessel encounters between the two nations in years near hotspot reefs in the disputed South China Sea, the Philippines said on Monday that it had called China’s envoy and raised the idea of dismissing him.
Chinese ships were seen firing water cannon at Philippine boats in videos made public by the Philippine Coast Guard on Saturday and Sunday during two different resupply runs to fishermen at Scarborough Shoal and a small garrison at Second Thomas Shoal.
At Second Thomas Shoal, where a small contingent of Filipino soldiers is stationed on a grounded cruiser, there was also a collision between Philippine and Chinese boats, for which both nations took responsibility.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, foreign ministry spokesperson Teresita Daza stated that diplomatic protests had been made and that “the Chinese ambassador has also been summoned”.
Daza stated that designating Huang Xilian, the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines, as “persona non grata” was likewise “something that has to be seriously considered”.
The employment of a long-range sonic weapon, along with the ramming and water cannoning of Filipino boats, by China was a “serious escalation” of their methods, Jonathan Malaya, assistant director general of the National Security Council, told reporters.
However, the China Coast Guard said that after “disregarding our multiple stern warnings,” one of the Philippine supply boats intentionally struck its vessel.
China has disregarded an international tribunal’s decision that its claims lack legal support and continues to maintain its claims over nearly the whole South China Sea, including waterways and islands close to its neighbors’ borders.
In order to bolster its claims, it has constructed artificial islands and militarized them. It also sends boats out to patrol the heavily traveled river.
“Perilous and unsettling”
On Sunday, foreign diplomats in Manila denounced China’s moves, and the US State Department urged on Beijing to stop its “dangerous and destabilizing” operations in the sea.
Analysts noted that as the two nations attempt to establish their conflicting marine territorial claims, the encounters between Chinese and Philippine vessels at Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal were the most heated in recent memory.
According to Jay Batongbacal, head of the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, “I expect that this will become even more frequent and persistent.”
“We should use the opportunity to build up our alliances and partnerships, and to prepare for the worst as it is clear that they will continue to deprive us of access to our rights and resources as a country,” Batongbacal told the AFP news agency.
According to Song Zhongping, an analyst and former Chinese military officer, tensions were being exacerbated by Manila feeling “emboldened to provoke China” as a result of US support for the Philippines.
Song used the Chinese names for Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Shoal to warn that “conflict or some other contingency could erupt at Ren’ai Reef or Huangyan Island if the Philippines clings to its course and feels that it can provoke China with the support of countries outside the region.”
After a heated conflict, China took Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines in 2012, while in 1999, the Philippine Navy purposefully grounded a navy ship from World War II on Second Thomas Shoal to thwart China’s territorial expansion.
Under President Ferdinand Marcos, who has worked to strengthen defense connections in the area and strengthen ties with Washington while also pushing back against Chinese moves in the South China Sea, relations between Manila and Beijing have gotten worse.
Marcos declared in a statement late on Sunday that the Philippines was “undeterred” by the most recent events.
Using Manila’s name for the South China Sea waters immediately west of the Philippines, Marcos declared, “No one but the Philippines has a legitimate right or legal basis to operate anywhere in the West Philippine Sea.”
