October 26, 2023
Holding the Line Against China’s Maritime Bullying: The Philippines Sets a New Standard
Recent collisions between Chinese and Philippine vessels in the South China Sea are the latest indications of rising tensions between the two nations over their maritime disputes that could potentially draw in the United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines for over 70 years. Despite the risk that tensions could further escalate, Washington must stand firmly behind Manila. Beijing is testing not only Manila’s resolve, but also that of Washington, seeking to determine whether the Middle East crisis is distracting U.S. attention away from the Indo-Pacific.
The Philippines’ bold actions provide a powerful example to other Southeast Asian nations on how they, too, can resist Chinese violations of their sovereignty and access to crucial resources and livelihoods.
China has long pursued its illegal and expansive maritime claims through “gray zone” tactics — coercive behavior that is aimed at changing the status quo but that is below a threshold that would prompt a military response. More recently, the focus of its maritime bullying has been the Philippines, which in the last nine months, has faced Chinese military-grade lasers and water cannons aimed at preventing it from resupplying an outpost in the disputed Spratly Islands.
Read the full article from The Diplomat.
More from CNAS
-
Next UN Afghanistan Talks in Doha Must Hold Taliban to Account on Human Rights
The United Nations is preparing to host its third meeting of international envoys to Afghanistan in Doha later this month. This is a promising initiative aimed at developing a...
By Lisa Curtis
-
Obama tried to pivot to Asia in 2011. We must succeed this time.
This article, originally published in The Washington Post, is an excerpt from Lost Decade: The US Pivot to Asia and the Rise of Chinese Power. In 2011, President Barack Obama ...
By Richard Fontaine & Robert Blackwill
-
How The U.S. Failed To Meet the China Challenge
It’s a rare subject of bipartisan agreement that China is the greatest strategic challenge facing the U.S., perhaps the greatest it has ever faced. And yet, despite a decade o...
By Richard Fontaine & Robert Blackwill
-
Addressing a Human Rights and Looming Terrorism Crisis in Afghanistan
Executive Summary Pursuing the same harsh policies as it did during its previous stint in power in the 1990s, the Taliban has increasingly clamped down on the rights of women...
By Lisa Curtis & Annie Pforzheimer