While most of the world focuses on the armed conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, tensions are growing in the South China Sea. In what is becoming an almost daily occurrence, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) coast guard cutters harass and collide with Philippine ships attempting to resupply islands Manila holds as sovereign territory. Clashes between the two countries have increased in intensity most recently, and the US could find itself in the middle.
Confrontations in the South China Sea
The PRC has become something of a bully to its neighbors, and this aggressiveness is no more apparent than in its persistent conflict with the Philippines in the South China Sea. Despite what many thought might be reconciliation between Beijing and Manila with an exchange of diplomatic memoranda at the end of July, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Chinese Coast Guard did not pause or abate any of its harassment of Philippine commercial resupply ships or coast guard vessels. The Associated Press described the latest confrontation:
“China and the Philippines accused each other of causing a collision between their two vessels Saturday [Aug. 31] in the latest flare up of tensions over disputed waters and maritime features in the South China Sea…Philippine officials in Manila said it was their coast guard ship, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, that was rammed thrice by the Chinese coast guard without any provocation, causing damage to the Philippine vessel.”
This recent ramming incident was the second in just a few days and took place 85 miles west of Palawan, a Philippine region in the South China Sea. The confrontation occurred in the “internationally recognized exclusive economic zone of the Philippines,” the AP reported.
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