Earlier this month, China conducted its largest-ever military exercise in the South China Sea, raising new concerns about the future of freedom of navigation and overflight in the contested maritime region.
The exercises put a new spotlight on the Philippines, with the United States and its key regional security allies now bidding to step up their strategic cooperation with Manila.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s warming ties with China, with ongoing discussions over energy and other resource-sharing arrangements in contested areas, has raised US concerns over China’s rising influence over its smaller neighbors.
While Duterte has reached to Beijing, his security establishment and other prominent Filipinos have remained more circumspect. Those divergent views have been on full display in recent months, witnessed in a flurry of strategic exchanges with the US and its regional partners.
Despite Beijing’s overtures, including rich promises of economic assistance and investments, the Philippines has cause for concern.
No less than Chinese President Xi Jinping, dressed symbolically in army fatigues, addressed military personnel who participated in the recent mass maritime exercises.
Over 10,000 sailors, 48 warships and 76 aircraft took part in what Chinese state-owned media described as “the biggest maritime military parade since the foundation of the new China and a heroic display of the PLA Navy in the new era.”
China also leveraged the unprecedented drills to install equipment capable of jamming communication and radar systems of rival states on land features under its control in the Spratly islands, including on the Philippine-claimed Mischief Reef.
It’s becoming clearer that China wants to discourage and deter any challenge to its expansive South China Sea claims, outlined in its controversial nine-dash line map. Recent moves aim to restrict other claimants and external powers’ ability to operate their military assets in the area.
For Washington and other regional powers, continued security cooperation and engagement with Southeast Asian nations is crucial to preventing complete Chinese domination of the waters, through which over US$5 trillion worth of global trade travels every year.
China’s reported installation of jamming technology on Mischief Reef provoked a political backlash in Manila, with Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano promising to take the necessary diplomatic measures to protest China’s latest perceived provocation in nearby waters.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who has consistently expressed reservations about China’s intentions in adjacent waters, promised to verify and examine whether national communication and weapons systems could now be in jeopardy. That review is ongoing.
Just days after China’s large-scale drills, the US, Japan and Australia deployed warships to Philippine bases in Manila and Subic Bay in their own show of force.
Washington deployed USS Theodore Roosevelt to Manila Bay, its second aircraft carrier to visit the Philippines in the span of a month.
In February, the USS Carl Vinson made a high-profile visit to the Philippines ahead of its freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, the latest in a series of US pushbacks against China in the maritime area.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon made the unprecedented move of challenging China’s de facto control of the Philippine-claimed Scarborough Shoal by deploying warships within 12 nautical miles of the contested land feature.
Other US allies are pitching in. The Royal Australia Navy’s guided-missile frigate HMAS Anzac, accompanied by the auxiliary oiler replenishment HMAS Success, arrived in the Philippines on April 11 for a five-day-long visit.
Two days later, Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Forces’ Akizuki-class destroyer made a separate three-day good will visit.
“I think there are times when we should speak loudly and clearly,” declared the United States’ Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim from aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt while it was docked at Manila Bay.
“Our friendship has never been stronger and we have been and remain an Indo-Pacific nation. And our commitment to this region and its well-being is enduring,” he said.
Underlining the two sides’ deep historical ties, the American diplomat also pointed out the presence of 400 Filipino-Americans aboard the warship, part of the large number of first- and second-generation Filipino-Americans who have jointed the US armed forces in recent decades.
Commander of the Carrier Strike Group 9 Rear Admiral Stephen Koehler welcomed some 300 prominent Filipinos from the business community, government and academia on the aircraft carrier, also known as the “Big Stick”, alongside the US ambassador.
The naval commander emphasized the importance of ensuring that international waters like the South China Sea are “a rightful place for everybody” – a not so subtle swipe at China’s perceived threat to freedom of navigation and overflight in the area.
“It’s a showcase of the capability of the US armed forces, not only by sea but also by air,” Philippine army Lieutenant General Rolando Bautista said during his visit to the USS Theodore Roosevelt. “The Americans are our friends. In one way or another, they can help us to deter any threat.”
While Duterte has expressed his commitment to warmer relations with China, often at the expense of strategic ties with the US, many prominent Filipinos – including Duterte’s known rivals – continue to value the country’s longstanding alliance with America.
Among those in attendance at the aircraft carrier ceremony was interim Supreme Court Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes, former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Major General Restituto Padilla and Harvard-educated tycoon Don Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.
Richard Javad Heydarian,
Please substantiate and validate your headline – "China’s show of force pushes Philippines back to America" with actual factual evidence rather than self-opiniated high faluting hogwash inferential innuendos!
What official position do you have in the Philippines Government or who is your official source in the Philippine Government?
None! Then just start with an honest down to Earth preface ‘In my humble opinion ….. ‘ Then we allow your rights to a private personal opinion.
And also give us your academic and professional credentials. No Phd!
Then get yourself interred in the ashes of good for nothing rumour mongerers and stop stirring the pot.
Let the respective experts in the respective nations with a vested interest solve their geopolitical differences.
Your comments are worth shit as far as common sense and honesty and genuine concern and transparency is concerned about world peace.
Do you know that trouble makers go to Hell?
Read the Bible! Most Filipinos do.
Vincent Cheok
Robert Ferrin couple of thousand More like 500,000
That is Philippine waters and islets invaded by a bully, taking advantage of the weakness of the real owner. Fact: Philippines won in arbitration case against China on the rights in WPS in SCS.. Junking the newly formed illusion of chinas nine dash line. Duterte maybe a puppet of China! But Filipinos will not kowtow to the invaders!! Never ever. We will fight and will defend our territorial waters and islets at all cost. ???????? with or without our traitorous inutile leaders.
The sad thing here is, man has never really learned to live to coexist in peace and contentment . GREED is still the major issue . Why not let the leaders of these nations ,including us ,watch documents of the 2 world wars that had come and other major military conflicts of the past that they may see , reflect , contemplate on what the horrors of war can bring.
China clearly wants to establish a new world order, were the mighty nations can take anything they want from the weaker nation’s.
I believe the best way to check Chinese expansionism is for Japan to militarise.
Not correct
The Philippines will flip towards the east. The evil of the usa is being exposed world wide except in the USA with its lying media
An over-react at time strained equitable and mutual interest among nations involved.
Just saying ….two wrongs doesn’t make it right . But , if picking between the democratic systems over undemocratic ones … There’s hardly even a fair choices to be made and chose …
Freedom of Navigation is Freedom of the Seas, and it is garanteed by Interatonal Law. Much of the trade going through the South China Sea is to and from Taiwan, Korea, and Japan. This affects the entire World. The South China Sea is NOT a Chinese lake, and was never Chinese territory. That they want it now is obvious, but it is like a little spioled child, wanting everything it sees, rather than a principled attempt to protect soverign territory. War with China is going to happen because China wants a war. China wants to show that it is Top Dog, when it is not. Soon enough, all will become apparent.
Kevin-Maricko McCoy Your lack of understanding of socialism is quite bigoted. Social Democracries are the happiest, most educated countries in the world, with the highest standard of living, e.g., Denmark, Iceland, Japan, Taiwan, etc. The goal here in the PI being to mimick Singapore’s develpment over the past 50 years. Things here have improved significantly on many fronts and Duterte still has extremely high polling numbers. As for choosing the US or CN (and JP, RU) as partners, the Asian countries will benefit more by mutual cooperation and develpment than by allowing the imperialistic US empire to dictate as they have tried here over the past 100 years.
Michael Anderson, You make a statement like this? Provide you’re source of you can?
President Duerte was clear when running for President he is a socialist. The only difference between a Communist and a Socialist is Communism forces their tyranny upon the masses with brute force while Socialism is promoted by educating masses from within deception and lies to overthrow democracies. Same system just different means to accomplish sane objective. No grand eenlightenment then President Duerte til it’s toward China. Problem for China is what happens after Duertes term expires?
Bosire Ov, China or any other Nation has certainly not left me or my Country behind. Just a sample, where or what was China when these things were invented which I’m sure (Or hope) you use some of these today?
https://owlcation.com/humanities/10-American-Inventions-That-Changed-The-World
The ancient Chinese did not have a really strong maritime force. They claim an ancient admiral of thiers that discovered this island and that island, as basis for lots of historical claims. Even though a lot of Pacific islanders tagged those ‘discovered’ islands long before. It is likely any fealty brought upon the throne of the Chinese Emperoros were done by nations coonected by land to China.
Note that history of tribute has long since been broken. No more Chinese emperors sit on any throne.
The USA is both desperate, and insane. Duterte would do well to keep them at a distance.
Mon Mah WRONG! Japanese are not…Germans are not…racial prejudice comes from ignorance and low self-esteem coupled with religion…the so called religion people are the most wicked…take the philippines for instance…the ONLY christian nation in the Asian region and the most morally bankrupt , most racist and most wicked…monday thru saturday totally amoral…Sunday go to church and make fun of Jesus…Monday start over again….
Mon Mah FILIPINOS ARE NOT ASIANS…asians don’t dress up as ladyboys…the Philippines is 2000 miles from the continent of Asia…they wish they were asia…