The guided-missile destroyers USS Ralph Johnson and BRP Jose Rizal steam through the South China Sea during a joint exercise, Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. (Armed Forces of the Philippines)
MANILA — From flashing lasers to collisions and water cannons, it has been an increasingly incident-filled year in the brewing conflict between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, one of the most vital trade routes in the world and a potential global tinderbox.
After a collision over the weekend between Chinese and Philippine vessels, and the use of water cannons a dozen times, the Philippines on Monday condemned what it called a “serious escalation” of Chinese aggression. The Philippines has a mutual defense treaty with the United States.
China’s actions “really show a desire on their part to escalate the situation,” said Jonathan Malaya, spokesman for the Philippines’ national task force on the West Philippine Sea, the name for the region of the South China Sea under Philippine jurisdiction.
China’s coast guard spokesman, Gan Yu, said Sunday that its operations were “professional, standardized, legitimate and legal,” and that the collision that day was deliberately caused by the Philippines.
The conflict is part of overlapping territorial disputes China has with other countries around the South China Sea, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. China has been militarizing the islands in the area to support its claims. In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines — a ruling that China has ignored.
Here are five incidents this year that capture the steadily escalating tension in the West Philippine Sea.
February: China flashes laser
In February, China flashed a military-grade laser at a Philippine coast guard vessel approaching the Second Thomas Shoal, temporarily blinding its crew, according to the Philippines’ account. A laser attack is typically seen as hostile because as it can also precede firing on a target.
The incident took place about a month after what was initially seen to be as a fruitful visit by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Beijing. Analysts cite the moment as a turning point for Philippines’ policy after years of a more muted approach. The president summoned the Chinese ambassador himself — an unusual move, as the Foreign Ministry typically oversees such summons.
“This is where the Philippines made its choice,” said Ray Powell, SeaLight director at the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation at Stanford University. Its decision to release visuals of the event kick-started what Powell calls its “assertive transparency” campaign. After February, the Philippines would actively document and publicize China’s actions, shoring up support from other countries.
March, December: China swarms
Swarming, or the deployment of a flotilla of vessels to intimidate or overwhelm a target, has been a signature move used by China to assert its presence. China sends a combination of coast guard, navy and militia vessels to surround a site or block and cut off target ships. Its maritime militia is a force of fishing vessels that works with the state.
One of the first swarms recorded this year was in March, when over 40 Chinese vessels gathered around Thitu Island, known to Filipinos as Pag-asa, which is home to a civilian settlement. On Dec. 3, the Philippine coast guard released video of 135 Chinese vessels swarming Whitsun Reef, known locally as Julian Felipe.
Swarming is “at the core of [China’s] aggressive, coercive behavior,” said Victor Andres Manhit, president of the Manila-based think tank Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute. All other actions are enabled by its capacity to swarm and bully its target, he added.
August: China deploys water cannon
The first recorded Chinese use of a water cannon against a Philippine ship this year came in August. The ship was resupplying Philippine marines onto the Sierra Madre, an outpost on a rusting ship that was run aground on the Second Thomas Shoal to support the Philippine claim. The Philippine Foreign Affairs Department called an emergency hotline — established during Marcos’s Beijing trip — after the incident but China did not answer for six hours.
It was only the second known use of a water cannon in the West Philippine Sea and important because it was caught “in broad daylight [with] multiple views,” maritime expert Jay Batongbacal said in August. At the time, pro-China commentators were quick to emphasize that the event was nonlethal.
“The truth is … the high pressure actually can potentially sink that wooden vessel,” Batongbacal said. “It definitely can injure persons, perhaps seriously and even fatally under the right conditions.”
September: Philippines cuts floating barrier
In two back-to-back incidents in September, the Philippines released footage of extensive damage in Iroquois Reef, locally known as Rozul. It alleged the damage was caused by the earlier swarming of Chinese militia ships in the area. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla called for environmental charges against China at the arbitration court, a proposal that is under government review.
The next week, it cut a floating barrier that it said China planted in Scarborough Shoal, another disputed site in the West Philippine Sea and a traditional fishing ground to which China has been blocking access.
December: China uses water cannons again
In the past week, the Philippines sent two missions into the disputed area: a humanitarian mission to distribute goods to fishermen near Scarborough Shoal, and a resupply mission to the outpost on Second Thomas Shoal. China used a water cannon eight times on the fishing vessels in the first mission, and then four times on the resupply mission.
One vessel had to be towed back after water cannon damage disabled its engine, “seriously endangering the lives of its crew,” the Philippine coast guard said. Another sustained damage to its mast, and another was rammed.
The Philippine coast guard said it was harassed by a total of 13 Chinese coast guard and militia ships. It also detected over 48 Chinese vessels in the area, the “largest number of maritime forces we have documented” in recent resupply missions, spokesman Jay Tarriela said Monday.
Following the uptick in harassment, Philippine officials said they were looking at adjusting the nation’s strategy but declined to provide details.
A 30-vessel civilian convoy over the weekend was also interrupted after being harassed by China, its organizers said. Donations meant for soldiers have been turned over to authorities, and the volunteer ship returned to base for security reasons. But the caravan was the first of “many more to come,” said Rafaela David, organizer of the “Atin Ito” or “It’s Ours” coalition.
“Our goal is to regularize and normalize the travel and movement of the Filipino people in this region,” she said. “After all, it is ours.”
Meaghan Tobin in Taipei, Tawain, contributed to this report.
