Philippines rethinks its South China Sea strategy to ‘uphold dignity’, minimise casualties

Name: Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of damaging its vessel in South China Sea
Uploaded: 2024-05-01T03:08:51.000Z
Duration: 1 min 7 s
Description: Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of damaging its vessel in South China Sea

Manila’s defence chief said the Philippines has a ‘range of options’ to counter China, without elaborating on the adjustment to its strategy

China views Philippine actions as a provocation, he said: but ‘I really don’t know what the definition of provocation is in the dictionary of Chinese’

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Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of damaging its vessel in South China Sea

Bloomberg

Published: 11:08am, 1 May 2024Updated: 11:43am, 1 May 2024

The Philippines is weighing a new approach in the South China Sea, its defence chief said after another encounter between its vessels and Chinese coastguard ships firing water cannons – signalling that he wants maritime operations to be “less telegraphic”.

“We are re-strategising the way we do things, naturally with the end in view of both preventing injuries and number two, upholding the dignity of our country,” Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro junior said in an interview in his office in Manila on Tuesday.

Teodoro declined to elaborate on the adjustment to the country’s strategy as he said the Philippines has a “range of options” to counter China, which lays sweeping claims to the key waterway. “If you are stuck to one mode, it is easy to anticipate,” he said.

The defence chief’s remarks come as three Chinese coastguard ships fired water cannons at two Philippine vessels near Scarborough Shoal on Tuesday in yet another example of China’s game plan to counter the Philippines’ growing assertiveness in the disputed waters.

Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, the Philippines has followed a strategy of transparency since 2022, whereby it has called attention to China’s actions in the South China Sea on social media and through press releases. It remains to be seen how this would change once Teodoro’s new plan materialises, if at all.

Civilian supply boats are seen anchored at the derelict Sierra Madre navy vessel at Second Thomas Shoal. Photo: Philippine Department of National Defence/Handout via AFP

“The main point that we have to stress is that we will not give up our presence in the Second Thomas Shoal and we will not enter into any modus vivendi that will compromise our position regarding our rights in the area,” he said. Nestled in the shoal is the Sierra Madre – a crumbling warship that Manila deliberately grounded on the shoal in 1999 to serve as a military outpost.

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