Sea disputes dousing broad China-Philippine ties

MANILA – Of all Southeast Asian states, the Philippines stands out for its increasingly antagonistic relations with China. As tensions twist and turn in the South China Sea, broad bilateral relations are likewise in growing turmoil.

The previous Duterte presidency oversaw a dramatic improvement in bilateral relations. But that era is now firmly in the rearview mirror under Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who has presided over an unprecedented deterioration in ties.

Despite negotiating a “provisional agreement” to manage a spike in tensions over the Second Thomas Shoal, the site of multiple clashes in past months, the two sides are again at hot loggerheads over other contested features in the South China Sea.

Just a week after Philippine military authorities accused Chinese fighter jets of conducting unsafe and dangerous maneuvers against Philippine patrol aircraft near the contested Scarborough Shoal, another major collision took place on August 19 near the Sabina Shoal.

The Philippine National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea, which oversees parts of the South China Sea claimed by Manila, claimed that Chinese vessels conducted “unlawful and aggressive maneuvers [that] resulted in collisions causing structural damage to [two] Philippine Coast Guard vessels [patrolling in the area].”

Chinese authorities immediately blamed their Filipino counterparts, who they alleged “deliberately collided” with their vessels.

“Philippine coast guard vessels … illegally entered the waters near the [Sabina Reef] in the [Spratly Group of Islands] without permission from the Chinese government,” claimed China Coast Guard spokesperson Geng Yu. He claimed the Chinese side “took control measures against the Philippine vessels in accordance with the