South China Sea: as Philippines hosts US-Japan-Australia drills, will external players’ presence escalate tensions?

Name: Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of firing water cannons at its vessels in disputed waters
Uploaded: 2023-08-23T01:30:12.000Z
Duration: 2 min 13 s
Description: Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of firing water cannons at its vessels in disputed waters

Analysts say China’s ‘relentless’ and disruptive activities in the disputed waterway have resulted in Manila’s ‘I’ve had enough’ attitude

But hosting ‘external players’ such as the US, Japan and Australia for joint military drills only raises the ‘spectre of dangerous run-ins’

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US, Australian, Japanese and South Korean warships take part in joint drills in the Pacific Ocean last month. Analysts say this week’s US-Japan-Australia exercises off the Philippines are a result of “China’s bad behaviour at sea”. Photo: US Navy/Handout

Maria Siow

Published: 9:30am, 23 Aug 2023

This week’s flurry of military activity could herald a new state of affairs in the South China Sea, analysts say, with the presence of “external players” in the resource-rich waters raising the possibility of armed clashes arising from miscalculations.

This week, the United States, Japan and Australia are undertaking joint navy drills in the South China Sea off the western Philippines – to underscore their commitment to the rule of law after a recent show of Chinese aggression in the disputed waters, Filipino security officials said.

The exercises are set to include three aircraft and helicopter carriers sailing together in a show of force, alongside joint drills, with the commanders to later meet their Filipino counterparts in Manila.

The Philippines on Tuesday completed a resupply to troops stationed on a rusty World War II-era ship – the BRP Sierra Madre – on a reef in the South China Sea, after China had blocked a previous attempt in a fraught encounter that involved a Chinese coastguard vessel firing water cannon at several Philippine ships.

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Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of firing water cannons at its vessels in disputed waters

Jeffrey Ordaniel, an associate professor of international security studies at Tokyo International University in Japan, said escalating tensions would persist in the disputed waterway as long as “the biggest, most powerful claimant is not content with the status quo”.