South China Sea: despite clashes, Beijing and Manila must keep talking

To arrest further deterioration of the situation, Philippine foreign affairs undersecretary Maria Theresa Lazaro and Chinese foreign vice-minister Chen Xiaodong met in Manila on July 2. They discussed improving maritime communication mechanisms and promoting dialogue between their coastguards, including possibly resuming a joint coastguard committee set up during the Duterte administration.

The meeting came amid calls for greater diplomacy to stave off conflict. In a rare display, 33 Filipino-Chinese business groups issued a statement in support of de-escalation, appealing to both governments to “consider paths that will safeguard the peace, order and safety of both countries and its peoples”. They called for the establishment of a “neutral and diplomatic venue for discussion that will uphold mutual respect for one another”.

02:34

Chinese and Philippine ships clash in first incident under Beijing’s new coast guard law

The ninth bilateral consultation mechanism also came after not only Chinese but also Russian objections to US missile deployment in the Philippines. After Washington placed the Typhon mid-range missile systems in Denmark and the Philippines, Moscow called for production of more intermediate-range nuclear-capable missiles. Beijing criticised the missile installation in a meeting between Chinese and American defence chiefs on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue.

For Cuba, the Soviet missiles were meant to deter a US invasion. Similarly, deterring China was among the arguments raised in favour of stationing the US missile system in northern Luzon.

Fortunately, negotiations led Moscow to withdraw its missiles from the island, as well as for the US to withdraw its Jupiter missiles from Italy and Turkey. Despite