Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro. File | Photo credit: Reuters
China is the “biggest disruptor” of peace in Southeast Asia, the Philippine defense chief said on Tuesday (August 27, 2024), as tensions escalated between Manila and Beijing over disputed reefs and waters in the South China Sea.
“China… is the biggest disruptor of international peace in the ASEAN region,” Gilberto Teodoro said at a conference of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Manila, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Earlier, China deployed an “excessive number” of 40 ships to block two Philippine vessels from delivering food and other supplies to Manila’s largest coast guard ship in the disputed coastal area, the latest escalation in their territorial dispute in the South China Sea, Philippine officials said.
China and the Philippines have blamed each other for Monday’s collision at Sabina Shoal, an uninhabited island claimed by both countries, which has become the latest flashpoint in the Spratlys, the most disputed area of the sea lane, a major global trade and security route.
China and the Philippines have deployed separate coast guard ships to Sabina in recent months, as they suspect each other may move to take control of the fishing atoll and build structures there.
Hostility between China and the Philippines has escalated notably over the past year, and Monday’s clash was the sixth at sea and in the air between the two sides. The clashes have raised concerns of a larger conflict that could involve the Philippines’ longtime treaty ally, the United States.
The Philippine Coast Guard said “excessive force” from Chinese coast guard and navy vessels, combined with 31 suspected militia vessels, illegally obstructed the delivery of food supplies, including ice cream, to personnel aboard the BRP Teresa Magbanua, as the Philippines celebrated National Heroes Day on Monday.
The Philippine coast guard said it “remains firm in our commitment to uphold national interests and ensure the security of our waters” and “urged the Chinese coast guard to abide by international law and refrain from deploying maritime forces that could undermine mutual respect, a universally recognized basis for responsible and friendly relations between coast guards.” In Beijing, China’s coast guard said it took control measures against two Philippine coast guard vessels that “intruded” into waters near Sabina Shoal. It said in a statement that the Philippine vessels escalated the situation by repeatedly approaching a Chinese coast guard vessel. The Chinese coast guard did not say what control measures it took.
China has rapidly expanded its military power and become increasingly assertive in pursuing its territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely as its own. Tensions have led to a growing number of confrontations, primarily with the Philippines, though long-standing territorial disputes also involve other claimants including Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
On Monday, Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships collided near the Sabina, which Beijing calls Xianbin and Manila calls Escoda.