Opinion | Beijing and Manila need more than coastguard diplomacy to fix South China Sea problems

This week’s first-ever visit by a Chinese coastguard ship to Manila can be seen as a milestone in confidence building between two key claimants in the South China Sea, but it comes amid growing concerns over Chinese activities in the contested waters.

Since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power, the Philippines and China have done much work on their coastguard diplomacy, establishing a two-way consultation mechanism that has convened five times in three years, proposing a joint resource development plan, and establishing a joint coastguard committee which will meet for the third time during the port call.

But while much progress has undoubtedly been made, it is hard to shake the sense that if China really wants to boost maritime cooperation with the Philippines, it needs to exercise greater restraint in contested waters.

It is a sign of the visit’s importance that it is being led by the Commandant of China’s coastguard, General Wang Zhongcai. The five-day visit will include search and rescue and firefighting exercises and goodwill sports competitions. It follows the US coastguard’s first visit to the Philippines in seven years, in May last year.