Philippines faces fresh clash with China as US intensifies defence cooperation with Manila

The Chinese and the Filipino Armed Forces were involved in a fresh clash near a disputed island in the South China Sea on Sunday, a day prior to US Vice President Kamala Harris’ arrival in Manila. As per the reports, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel was accused of forcefully seizing a piece of apparent rocket debris that was being towed by the Philippine Navy.  

According to Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos of the Philippine Navy, the Chinese vessel blocked the Philippine naval boat twice before it seized the debris which was being towed Sunday off Philippine-occupied Thitu island. However, no one was reported to be injured in the incident. Meanwhile, US Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Manila the next day to renew America’s defence commitments to its oldest ally in Asia.  

The Chinese version tells a different story

Following the incident, China did confirm that the debris was from a Chinese rocket but denied there being a forcible seizure and said that the debris was handed over to the Chinese military by the Philippine forces after a “friendly consultation.”  

According to the Philippine accounts, the floating debris was spotted roughly half a mile off Thitu, which is referred to by Manila as Pagasa while Beijing calls it Zhongye. Sailors from the Philippine Navy were dispatched in an inflatable boat and began towing it back to the island, said Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, who heads the western command of the Philippines armed forces. Personnel from a Chinese Coast Guard vessel were then dispatched in their own inflatable boat, who cut the towing line and retrieved the debris, stated Carlos.  

The latest flareup in long-seething territorial disputes led by China in the strategic waterway involving the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan comes amid multiple nefarious activities led by Beijing in the region in recent months.  

Chinese Coast Guard ships are known to regularly block the route of Philippine supply boats delivering supplies to Filipino forces in the disputed region. However, seizing an object in the possession of another nation’s military constitutes a more brazen act amid tensions.  

US seeks military expansion in Philippines

Following the incident, the US Vice President landed in Manila on Monday and sought an expansion to the presence of the US military in the Philippines under a 2014 defence pact. Additionally, during her meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the presidential palace in Manila, US Vice President Harris also reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to defend the archipelago nation under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.  

China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the region aimed at fortifying its claims to most of the busy waterway have alarmed smaller claimant nations such as Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines. The US has been helping in bolstering the strength of the Philippine coast guard.  

The 2014 Enhance Defense Cooperation Agreement between the US and the Philippines allows a large number of American forces to stay in rotating batches within Philippine military camps. The US forces are allowed to build warehouses, living quarters, joint training facilities and store combat-ready equipment, except for nuclear arms.