Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/china-philippines-disputed-scarborough-shoal-south-china-sea-77e94f6acc69153bd7a9acc187027f9e
Early this morning, three Philippine coast guard ships and fishing vessels reported that a Chinese coast guard vessel shot water cannons at them along with making aggressive maneuvers towards their ships. These actions by Chinese ships are not a singular event. China has claimed most of the South China Sea into areas claimed by other countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan according to territorial waters, exclusive economic zones and maritime laws. China claims they have exclusive rights to many disputed territories and are willing to protect those areas by force if necessary which is what this event is an example of. This action strongly upset the Philippines because they viewed it as unlawful aggression. It also brought the attention of the US because even though they have no claims to the water, they state that it is in their national interest to protect the freedom of routes through the sea partly because it is in a treaty alliance to protect the Philippines if one should come under attack from a Chinese ship.
This article is important because it shows an update from a previous regional report about the South China Sea. This action could have a big effect on the region because it could hinder trade routes and sovereignty of territorial waters because there are so many conflicting views. It could also weaken smaller countries around China by decreasing their foreign economic opportunities and weakening their ability to protect themselves by using a navy in the South China Sea. This could create a bigger gap between China and other countries in this area of the world so that China would become an ever bigger “monopoly” of a country for this region.
I don’t expect actions to change much between China and the Philippines. China has historically been aggressive in their claims to the South China Sea and I don’t see them backing down from what they see as their waters. I can see the Philippines in the near future possibly allying with close countries who also share a sea rights problem with China in hopes to deter China from more aggressive action. I do see China becoming more conservative in their claims if the US gets involved in protecting the sea rights of the Philippines. This connects to class because it shows how alliances play a role in a country’s behavior. It also shows the possibility for an example of the Fluidity of Alliances to take place if the US no longer has a national interest in the South China Sea and the Philippines are left to fend for themselves. It also relates to class when we talked about maps and how they are made different depending on where they are made because the US and China refer to the body of water as the South China Sea, but the Philippines views the sea to the west of them as the West Philippine Sea.