Philippines on tenterhooks as Beijing deploys ‘darker grey’ tactics in South China Sea

Observers point to the June 17 clash between China coastguard (CCG) personnel and Philippine Navy officers at the Second Thomas Shoal, which led to a Filipino officer losing a thumb, as a pivotal turning point in the conflict between Manila and Beijing over their overlapping maritime claims.

“China has indeed been evolving its grey zone actions. We are seeing more tactics being used, such as blocking supply missions and a greater willingness to engage in direct confrontations as evidenced by the June 17 incident in Ayungin Shoal,” Dindo Manhit, president of the Stratbase ADR Institute think tank, told This Week in Asia, referring to Manila’s term for the Second Thomas Shoal.

Defence analyst V.K. Parada said the incident was the first recorded instance of Chinese personnel deliberately boarding a commissioned Filipino vessel, unlike previous stand-offs between both countries.

“They seized the supplies and firearms aboard and threatened Navy personnel aboard with melee weapons – like pirates,” Parada said. The Filipino officer’s injury was the most serious incident since the Philippines began its resupply missions to the grounded BRP Sierra Madre vessel on the Second Thomas Shoal, he added.

Observers pointed to more aggressive manoeuvres from the CCG and Beijing’s maritime militia.

Manila has accused the CCG of blocking its supply missions and delaying the provision of humanitarian aid, such as the rescue of injured Filipino fishermen whose boat engine exploded near Scarborough Shoal on June 29, and the evacuation of a sick sailor aboard the BRP Sierra Madre on July 7.

In addition to its “intimidation tactics” at sea, Manhit said Beijing has intensified its information warfare by rapidly publicising its narratives about the