China has warned the Philippines to “act with caution” amid rising tensions over disputed waters in the South China Sea, declaring that relations between the two countries are at a crossroads. China’s foreign minister Wang Yi told his Filipino counterpart that Beijing would take action in defence of its interests in the region.
“China-Philippines relations are now standing at a crossroads. Faced with the choice of what path to follow, the Philippines must act with caution,” Mr Wang said, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout of a phone call between the two ministers on Thursday.
“If the Philippine side misjudges the situation, goes its own way, or even colludes with ill-intentioned external forces to continue to stir up troubles, China will defend its rights in accordance with law and respond resolutely.”
The dispute centres on the Sierra Madre, a decrepit warship dating from the second World War, which Manila grounded in 1999 on the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. A small number of Filipino soldiers are stationed at the grounded vessel, which Manila uses as a territorial outpost.
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Beijing claims that the Second Thomas Shoal is part of its territorial waters and Chinese vessels have sometimes chased Filipino ships that are resupplying the outpost. With the fabric of the Sierra Madre continuing to deteriorate, Manila declared last week that it intends to build a permanent structure nearby.
China claims most of the South China Sea, an important shipping lane linking Asia’s northeast and southeast, as its territorial waters and has built a number of militarily fortified, artificial islands to amplify its claim. But a number of countries in the region, including Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, dispute the claims.
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos Jr said this week that traditional diplomacy had failed to make progress in the dispute with China, suggesting that a new approach was needed.
“We have to do something that we have not done before. We have to come up with a new concept, a new principle, a new idea so that we move, as I say, we move the needle the other way. It’s going up, let’s move the needle back, so that paradigm shift is something that we have to formulate,” he told Japanese reporters.
Since he became president last year, Mr Marcos has deepened co-operation with the United States, giving its forces expanded access to Filipino military bases. Last May, Washington confirmed that a 1951 Mutual Defence Treaty meant that it would come to Manila’s defence in the event of an armed attack anywhere in the South China Sea.
Manila has also deepened defence co-operation with Japan and the Philippines but Beijing sees Washington’s hand behind the rise in tensions in recent months.
“We hope the Philippines will realise that tying itself to some major power and forcing China to back down on issues concerning China’s core interests will lead nowhere,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said this week.
“The Philippines, bolstered by external support, has brushed aside China’s goodwill and restraint and repeatedly challenged China’s principles and red line. This is the major risk that could drive up tensions at sea.”
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