Shadow boxing

 

By Manuel Mogato | Date 07-15-2024

MANILA — The Philippine women’s boxing team won two bronze medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics after failing to advance to the 50 Kg and 57 Kg divisions finals.

But there’s a more exciting development – like a boxing event – in this part of the world as the Philippines continued to challenge China’s illegal and excessive claims in the South China Sea.

As part of this, the Philippines, the United States, and other Western allies have been conducting a series of joint sails and maritime cooperative activities in the disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea. This move has not gone unnoticed by China.

China has responded with its combat drills in the West Philippine Sea, particularly in the Scarborough and Sabina Shoals.

For several weeks, the Philippine Coast Guard’s largest vessel, BRP Teresa Magbanua, has been in a standoff with a Chinese ship in Sabina Shoal after Manila accused Beijing of attempting to build an artificial island on the submerged shoal in April.

The situation in the contested waters is akin to a never-ending bout of shadowboxing, with both sides constantly gearing up for a potential showdown in this crucial waterway.

Since late last year, the Philippines has done at least half a dozen maritime cooperative activities with the United States, Japan, and other Western countries, like Australia, Canada, and France.

In the last two weeks, the Philippine Navy had a series of joint sails with the United States and Japan and a multilateral maritime cooperative activity with the US, Australia, and Canada.

More are planned in the months ahead as more countries have expressed interest in entering into defense cooperation with the Philippines.

Last month, Singapore signed a deal with the Philippines. New Zealand also expanded its defense cooperation, and Germany intends to forge closer security ties.

Vietnam’s Coast Guard would hold Coast Guard drills with the Philippines this month, a first since the two countries’ troops began friendly volleyball and soccer games in the disputed islands in the Spratlys a few years ago.

The Philippines has been winning more allies in its struggle to assert its rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea.

Under international law, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Philippines has jurisdiction within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

However, China has been preventing Filipino fishermen from catching fish and private companies from exploring and exploiting energy resources in its maritime zones.

Beijing has built manmade islands on Mischief Shoal and seized control of strategic features, like Scarborough Shoal.

China has also tried to impose its domestic laws in the disputed waters, stepping up its coercive activities in the South China Sea and harassing not only the Philippines but other Southeast Asian states, like Malaysia and Vietnam.

China’s actions can no longer be ignored because it has been trying to change the status quo in the South China Sea.

Thus, the United States and its allies have started naval drills to test their coordination and readiness to respond to any contingencies in the region and enhance their interoperability.

They were encouraged to challenge China’s 10-dash-line claim after the Philippines won a landmark arbitral ruling in the Hague in 2016.

Before the ruling, even the United States hesitated to dip its fingers into the South China Sea dispute.

Manila’s legal victory heated the situation, making more states willing to force Beijing to honor the arbitration court’s decision.

The ball is in Beijing’s hand to cool the tensions. Although China’s Xi Jinping changed course after the Third Plenum in July, the People’s Liberation Army and the Chinese Coast Guard would continue to assert their historical claim in the disputed waters.

Hopefully, the shadowboxing in the West Philippine Sea will not end up in fisticuffs. There was nearly one incident literally when the Chinese Coast Guard swarmed into two Philippine Navy rubber boats in Ayungin Shoal in June. The June 17 incident must not be repeated.

However, there is always a danger of conflict if the shadowboxing persists.