US offers to help PH resupply missions: part of strategy to contain China

By Rodney J. Jaleco | Date 08-30-2024

WASHINGTON D.C. — The United States has been sounding off the past weeks about joining Philippine resupply missions in the West Philippine Sea, responding to increasingly aggressive, sometimes violent, confrontations with the Chinese Coast Guard. It was seen as a signaling exercise but may now be part of a larger strategy to deter China from expanding its footprint in the region.
 
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan broached the idea last July after a Filipino soldier lost a finger when the Chinese tried to stop a Philippine resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre in the Ayungin (2nd Thomas) Shoal. Days later, the Philippines revealed that China agreed to stop harassing Philippine boats ferrying replacement troops and provisions to the BRP Sierra Madre, after months of trying to block them. 
 
As the confrontations appeared to shift to the Escoda (Sabina) Shoal, about 75 miles from Palawan, US Indo-Pacific Command chief Adm. Samuel Paparo, in Manila for meetings in Malacanang and Camp Aguinaldo, raised the possibility of US warships assisting Philippine resupply missions.
 
“Every option between the two sovereign nations in terms of mutual defense, escort one vessel to the other, is an entirely reasonable option within our Mutual Defense Treaty, among this close alliance between the two of us,” Adm. Paparo said during a press conference with Philippine Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner.
 
On the other side of the world, US Department of Defense spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder indicated Adm. Paparo’s take on the US-Philippine defense pact has the blessings of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
 
“As allies, we continue to stand with the Philippines given especially the PRC (Communist China) has consistently prevented them from executing lawful maritime operations in the South China Sea,” MGen. Ryder said. 
 
“What I would say is the Philippines remains the lead for its own operations in the South China Sea…our commitment to that alliance is ironclad. As you know our governments have close continual consultation so any military support would be at the request of the government of the Philippines,” added the Pentagon spokesman.
 
There are questions, however, about how much assistance the US can provide to the Philippines as it’s focused on the Middle East. For instance, the US doesn’t have a carrier battle group in the Indo-Pacific region — the Roosevelt and Lincoln battle groups are currently in the Persian Gulf with the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group standing by in the Mediterranean.
 
The Pentagon assured Asia-Pacific allies the US had enough residual power in the region to meet contingencies. “As we look at requirements around the world in support of our national security interests…we have a significant amount of capability there to include a large naval presence.”
 
Adm. Paparo’s statement also coincided with Mr. Sullivan’s visit to Beijing which had the avowed goal to improve communications after ties spiraled following the shoot-down of a Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed the US in early 2023, to “manage conflict” and “keep the overall direction of mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation” as China’s senior foreign policy official Wang Yi put it.
 
The challenge for both partners is the scope of the confrontations with China, from Scarborough Shoal off Zambales (where a Chinese jet fired flares in the path of a Philippine patrol plane) to the Rizal (Commodore) Reef off southern Palawan. In the absence of a comprehensive deal, the Philippines faces the prospect of playing whack-a-mole with China.
 
This is probably why Gen. Brawner has so far turned down the US offer. He stressed the Philippine military will “exhaust all possible options that we have before we ask for help.”
 
The US, though, may already be providing that “help” even if the Philippines hasn’t tacitly asked for it. After a meeting with Chinese counterparts in Laos last month, Foreign Affairs Sec. Enrique Manalo described Beijing’s “very dramatic” reaction to the deployment of the Typhon intermediate-range missile system in the Philippines. He said he assuaged Mr. Wang, “You shouldn’t be worried.”
 
These constant reminders about the US’s readiness to beef up Philippine sovereignty and logistics missions serve myriad purposes. It bolsters the Philippines’ confidence to stand up to China’s bullying gray-zone tactics and perhaps more significantly, signals Beijing that the US will not tolerate them expanding their beachhead in the South China Sea, especially the construction of new artificial islands. At the very least, China’s high-handed efforts to block Philippine ships keep their threat front and center of world attention.
 
The US sees a larger, more strategic stake in aiding Philippine resupply missions.