China-Philippines Whitsun Reef dispute could get worse as US chips in
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expresses concern over massing of Chinese vessels at South China Sea reef and reaffirms that a mutual defence treaty between Washington and Manila applies to the disputed waters
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian urges US to stop ‘inciting quarrels and sowing discord’
The deepening row between Manila and Beijing over the weeks-long presence of Chinese vessels at a disputed reef in the South China Sea could escalate as anger grows in the Philippines and the US signals its support for its Southeast Asian ally, analysts say.
Beijing has insisted that what it says are fishing vessels at Whitsun Reef are sheltering from bad weather and have “no plan” to stay there permanently, but Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jnr warned that Manila would lodge diplomatic protests every day until “the last one’s gone like it should be by now if it’s really fishing”.
The Philippines reported more than 200 Chinese vessels near the reef in early March and said last week that 44 ships from the Chinese “maritime militia” were still there despite the good weather.
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Philippines sounds alarm over 200 Chinese ships in the South China Sea
Philippines sounds alarm over 200 Chinese ships in the South China Sea
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a call with Locsin expressed concerns over the massing of Chinese vessels at Whitsun Reef, and reaffirmed that the mutual defence treaty between Washington and Manila applied to the South China Sea. On the same day, the US Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group carried out joint operations with the US Makin Island amphibious ready group in the contested waters that Beijing claims.
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In response, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on Friday urged the US to stop “inciting quarrels and sowing discord”, and said that with regards to the Whitsun Reef situation, “communication [had been] maintained between all parties”.
Analysts say the Philippines has taken a tougher stance against Beijing in the South China Sea in the dispute, with Philippines Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and the country’s foreign affairs department both engaging in a heated war of words with the Chinese embassy in Manila. Rising tensions over Whitsun Reef complicate Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s push for closer ties with Beijing and tests the US President Joe Biden administration’s ability to push back against Beijing’s strategy in the South China Sea.
Richard Heydarian, a professorial chairholder in geopolitics at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, said the incident had “exposed fault lines within the Philippine government” between Duterte’s efforts to avoid escalation to keep his pivot to China on track and an indignant defence establishment.
