Philippines joining Beijing’s South China Sea drill ‘shows nations are hedging bets’ in Sino-US tussle
Southeast Asian countries also cooperating with US and Japan to keep China in check in the region, analysts say
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are hedging their strategic risks in the South China Sea by stepping up military cooperation on multiple fronts as tension between China and the United States grows in the region, political analysts have said.
The assessment follows Monday’s decision by the Philippines to join a regional military exercise involving China and other Asean countries later this month, and comes days after a Chinese destroyer and an American warship came within metres of colliding in the South China Sea.
The drill, from October 22 to 29, would be Manila’s first military exercise with Beijing, and will form the second phase of a tabletop maritime exercise China held in August with several Asean nations in Singapore, in which they focused on simulating joint search and rescue operations under the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea.
The upcoming naval drill will be held in waters off Zhanjiang city, in southern China’s Guangdong province, after Chinese and Asean officials agreed not to stage it in areas that are the subject of territorial disputes.
The Philippines’ participation can be seen as a marked change in Manila’s stance towards China regarding the South China Sea since Rodrigo Duterte became president.
However, Dai Fan, a Southeast Asian affairs expert from Jinan University in Guangzhou, Guangdong, said Asean countries were also exploring ties with Japan and the US to counter China’s rising influence in the region.