As the world watches Gaza, tensions threaten to erupt in the South China Sea
Close encounters between the Philippines and China in contested waters portent another unwelcome theatre of escalating tensions.
With much of the world’s attention trained on the Middle East, it may have been easy to overlook a relative sleeper issue: the escalating tensions between China and the Philippines in the contested waters of the South China Sea.
That might just be how Beijing prefers it.
It was therefore telling that President Joe Biden, in a joint press conference with visiting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, reiterated the United States’ treaty obligation to defend the Philippines if it came under attack.
“I want to be very clear: The United States’ defence commitment to the Philippines is ironclad,” he said. “Any attack on the Filipino aircraft, vessels, or armed forces will invoke our Mutual Defence Treaty with the Philippines.”
On Sunday, a Chinese coast guard ship and an accompanying vessel rammed two Philippine vessels on a military-run resupply mission to an outpost in the Second Thomas Shoal, Philippines officials said, releasing footage of the incident. China blamed the Philippine vessels for causing the collisions, saying they had trespassed in Chinese waters and ignored repeated radio warnings.
