Link to article : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/chinese-coast-guard-says-philippine-ship-rammed-chinese-vessel-south-china-sea-2024-08-31/
On August 31st, 2024, a Chinese coast guard vessel crashed and ran into a Philippine war vessel. Both sides have blamed each other for the incident, this has not been the first encounter with each other as they have encountered each other 5 times within the past month in the South China Sea. China claims most of the South China Sea as their own but countries like the Philippine have disputed against that claim. The South China Sea is a very important waterway for the Philippines as around 3 trillion dollars worth of trade passes through the sea each year. The waterway also contains large oil and natural gas deposits which both countries want. The USA has condemned this action as the Philippines is a treaty ally of the US.
These continuous clashes within the South China Sea becoming more violent and frequent each encounter, both countries don’t seem to be backing down anytime soon. Although the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 found that China has no legal basis to claim the entire South China Sea, Beijing rejects the ruling. This makes the region prone to provocations from both sides that could turn violently if a solution isn’t resolved in the near future. The 3 trillion dollars worth of trade that passes through the region could be impacted as ships from the other country could be seized which would cause further provocations.
China, claiming to own most of the South China Sea may see many other countries such as Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines join together in the future to prevent China being able to dictate and overlook what happens in the South China Sea that “is” Chinese waters according to China. This could lead to further provocations in the future with the USA being dragged in if escalated far enough as an treaty ally of the Philippines. Both countries could establish their territorial waters through signing the treaties that have been established although both countries don’t agree on the borders that are chosen. The treaty for peace and resolution is seeming to be less likely as the days go on due to more frequent encounters with each nation. With the USA being in a treaty with the Philippines they are a military intergovernmental organization (IGO) which we talked about in class. In the future countries may condemn the actions and sanction China for the actions as well as increase military activity in the area monitoring the situation until a resolution is passed.