Ex-Trump adviser says China’s clash with Philippines is ‘dress rehearsal’ for Taiwan attack
- Matthew Pottinger, who served in former president Donald Trump’s administration, also endorsed joint US-Philippine resupply missions to the Second Thomas Shoal
A former top US national security adviser said on Tuesday that Beijing was using a stand-off with the Philippines in the South China Sea as a “dress rehearsal” for an attack on Taiwan.
“They’re doing it on a little tiny model of Taiwan, which is this little island … that is not, by itself, a major, geo-strategically important spot,” he said, adding that Beijing is “trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines but by extension Taiwan”.
Manila and Beijing have been locked in a months-long territorial row in the South China Sea, with the latest skirmish last month between the Philippine navy and the Chinese coastguard. The melee caused injuries to several Filipinos, including a sailor who lost a finger.
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Philippine forces were on a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II vessel deliberately grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 and occupied by their fellow troops. The flashpoint is known to Manila as the Ayungin Shoal; Beijing calls it Renai Jiao. Both sides claim it is a part of their maritime territory.
