Chinese vessels gather in disputed waters west of Palawan province, in this photo posted by the Philippine armed forces, Saturday, July 8, 2023. (Philippine armed forces)
A Philippine coast guard official has warned that Chinese vessels swarming contested reefs in the South China Sea may portend an attempt to occupy those territories.
More than 50 Chinese maritime militia vessels were seen loitering at Iroquois Reef and Sabina Shoal, south of Reed Bank, the Philippine Inquirer reported Sunday, citing the Western Command of the Philippines’ armed forces. The maritime features are west of Palawan province in the southwestern Philippine Islands.
It’s the first time so many Chinese vessels have been spotted in the area, Commodore Jay Tarriela, the Philippine coast guard’s maritime security adviser, told the Philippines’ dzBB radio, according to the newspaper.
“The only analysis that we can provide for the presence of these Chinese maritime militias is to swarm a particular maritime feature and to occupy it,” he said.
The Philippine coast guard will “intensify” patrols to determine whether the number of Chinese vessels has increased or decreased, Tarriela said.
“Our objective is to expose them and deploy our vessels to drive them away,” he said.
In 2016, an international tribunal rejected China’s claim to most of the South China Sea; however, Beijing has ignored the ruling and built military facilities on disputed territory, including areas claimed by the Philippines. The United States does not recognize China’s claims and the Navy conducts frequent freedom-of-navigation patrols in the disputed waters.
Similar Chinese tactics prompted protests from the Philippines in February, when 30 Chinese vessels anchored at Sabina Shoal, which is claimed by the Philippines, China and Taiwan. The ships left after the protests, the Inquirer reported.
In September 2021, Manila complained to Beijing about 30 vessels in waters around Iroquois Reef. That followed the dispersal of 220 Chinese vessels observed at Whitsun Reef, part of the Spratly Islands, in March of that year.
More recently, several Chinese coast guard vessels attempted on June 30 to prevent two Philippine patrol ships from reaching Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratlys, Tarriela tweeted July 5.
In response, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson called on Beijing to comply with a 2016 ruling that rejected its claim on the shoal.
“We are concerned by the unprofessional maneuvers of the China Coast Guard against the Philippines Coast Guard,” she tweeted July 7. “[China’s] irresponsible behavior in the South China Sea threatens the security and legal rights of our treaty ally, the Philippines.”
The Philippines lacks powerful warships but could send smaller vessels that might provoke the Chinese ships to ram them and lose face, Patricio Abinales, a Philippines expert at the University of Hawaii, said in an email Tuesday.
“Question is at what point will the Americans then say enough is enough, we will back our Filipino allies,” he said.
China’s latest swarm is aimed at dissuading the Philippines from oil and gas production at Recto Bank, according to Carlyle Thayer, an emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales.
“China has consistently pressed the Philippines to agree on joint development in this area,” he said by email Tuesday.
Any plans that China might have to occupy disputed territory and develop it into artificial islands as forward operating bases could be disrupted by pushback from the Philippines in coordination with its allies, security partners and other claimant states, Thayer said.
“The Philippines must continue with its plans to modernize its military, the navy and air force in particular, to have the capacity to gradually assert its sovereignty over the long term,” he said. “During this process, the Philippines and the United States, along with other friendly powers such as Japan and Australia, need to maintain a continuous naval presence.”
