Philippines bolstering defense ties to counter PRC’s South China Sea threats
Maria T. Reyes
The threat posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), whether its violations of international law in the South China Sea or the looming possibility of an invasion of self-governed Taiwan, has become a central consideration for the Philippines’ defense policy and security partners. This applies to the Philippines’ membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its role as a treaty Ally of the United States, a position it shares in the Indo-Pacific with Australia, Japan and South Korea.
Beijing’s violations of international law within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) include construction and militarization of three low-tide maritime features in the Spratly Islands chain in the South China Sea. Moreover, Chinese coast guard vessels have repeatedly harassed Philippine vessels supplying the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded Philippine Navy ship that now serves as a military base at Second Thomas Shoal, known as Ayungin Shoal to Filipinos, also within the EEZ. In early August 2023, a Chinese coast guard vessel fired a water cannon at Philippine Navy supply ships.
Beijing’s territorial claims to any portion of the Philippines’ EEZ were ruled unlawful under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) by an international tribunal in 2016, a ruling supported by the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP), which was adopted by ASEAN leaders in 2019. The AOIP does not mention the PRC but does specify the need for nations to comply with international law, including UNCLOS.
Other ASEAN states including Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam also have clashed with Beijing over its violations of their EEZs, such as illegal fishing and resource exploration.
“One thing that is common among us [ASEAN states] is that, of course, we are very suspicious of China,” Renato Cruz De Castro, a professor of international studies at Manila’s De La Salle University, told FORUM.
Securing the South China Sea against the backdrop of such regional tensions was a central aim of the multilateral exercise in the waters off Manila in late August 2023 involving the navies of Australia, Japan, the Philippines and the U.S.
The AOIP shares fundamental principles with the vision of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific, and Japan agrees with it,” Rear Adm. Takahiro Nishiyama, of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, said in a news release after the exercise.
Manila’s defense cooperation with the U.S. and other partners isn’t limited to protecting maritime freedoms. “It’s already focused on Taiwan,” De Castro said.
The threat of a PRC invasion of Taiwan, home to more than 200,000 Filipino workers, poses a direct threat to the Philippines, including Beijing potentially seeking to control the Luzon Strait between Taiwan and the northern Philippines, he said.
Manila is bolstering its security partnerships in response, including with Australia, Japan and South Korea. Additionally, it recently granted the U.S. access to four additional military sites under the allies’ Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, including in Northern Luzon.
“We’re located north of Southeast Asia and we’re the closest to Taiwan,” De Castro said. “So, our interest basically converges with the interests of the other American allies. And, of course, with the United States.”
Maria T. Reyes is a FORUM contributor reporting from Manila, Philippines.
