US Ally Blasts China’s ‘Threats and Challenges’

The Philippines will continue to seek peaceful collaboration with neighboring countries in the South China Sea, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said recently while blasting Beijing’s unlawful actions in the region.

Tensions in the West Philippine Sea—Manila’s term for parts of the South China Sea that fall within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ)—are growing, Marcos said, noting “persistent unlawful threats and challenges against Philippine sovereign rights and jurisdictions.”

Tensions between Beijing and Manila are at an all-time high over China’s recent attempts to intimidate and block the latter’s fishermen and coast guard from entering areas within the Philippines’ EEZ, an area extending 200 miles from a country’s coastline within which that nation has the sole right to exploit the resources beneath the water’s surface, according to international law.

In a pointed message, Marcos referenced “coercive tactics and dangerous maneuvers” employed by China’s coast guard and maritime militia, particularly affecting the Philippine Coast Guard’s resupply missions to the contested Second Thomas Shoal, known locally as Ayungin Shoal.

The Philippines’ leader was speaking on Sunday at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies during a visit to Honolulu after attending the APEC forum in San Francisco.

China’s claims to territory and maritime zones in the South China Sea—asserted through its sweeping “dashed line”—have led to disputes with several countries, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and Indonesia.

Marcos said smaller nations like the Philippines faced a dilemma in which they strive to enhance security while navigating complex relations with larger regional players.

“My message has always been firm, simple and clear: the Philippines will continue to be an engaged and responsible neighbor—always finding ways to collaborate with the end goal of mutually beneficial outcomes, namely: peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said.

Marcos called for the establishment of a maritime code of conduct in the South China Sea, which is rich in untapped natural gas deposits. Emphasizing the urgency of such an agreement, he highlighted the difficulties Manila and other Southeast Asian capitals have had while dealing with China’s expansive claims and aggressive activities in disputed waters.

The situation in the region “has become more dire,” Marcos said. Manila was nonetheless still expecting China’s participation in discussions with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on a previously floated code of conduct, which has seen on-and-off progress for two decades.

Meanwhile, he said, the Philippines has approached other ASEAN countries, including Vietnam and Malaysia, to develop such a code, with or without Beijing’s cooperation.

In response on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning dismissed Marcos’ initiative.

Any code of conduct would have to reflect existing understandings under the ASEAN framework, first declared in 2002, Mao said. Any departure from it would be “null and void.”

The declaration, signed by ASEAN members and China, emphasizes freedom of navigation, overflight and the peaceful resolution of disputes in the region, consistent with the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

But the 2002 framework doesn’t preclude confidence-building initiatives between individual parties, according to Collin Koh, a researcher at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

“Beijing opposes Marcos’ proposal because it doesn’t desire greater unity between the ASEAN parties,” he said on X (formerly Twitter).

In 2016, an arbitral tribunal at the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidated China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea. Beijing’s representatives, who declined to participate, dismissed the proceedings before they even began and haven’t recognized the ruling since.

While in Hawaii, Marcos further underscored the importance of his country’s military alliance with the United States and their mutual defense treaty, which commits U.S. forces to the defense of Philippine counterparts, including in the South China Sea.

During his visit, Marcos met with Adm. John Aquilino, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. The meeting included an operational overview and discussions on regional security cooperation, INDOPACOM said.

China’s Foreign Ministry didn’t return a written request for comment before publication.