A knife- and axe-wielding attack on Philippine personnel who were resupplying a military outpost marked Beijing’s most aggressive recent power play in the South China Sea. The June 17, 2024, assault in which Chinese personnel injured the resupply crew, slashed its inflatable boats and stole weapons followed a string of increasingly violent confrontations in the region.
The assaults, ubiquitous patrols and creation of artificial islands that support Chinese Communist Party (CCP) military installations are parts of Beijing’s orchestrated plan to control fishing, undersea mining and international shipping lanes in the South China and East China seas and often within other countries’ internationally recognized exclusive economic zones (EEZ). The seas are rich sources of fish, have abundant oil, natural gas and mineral reserves, and provide critical sea lines of communication for commercial and military shipping. The South China Sea alone is a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual commerce, Reuters reported in July 2024.
In support of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific, like-minded Indo-Pacific nations have responded to Beijing’s aggression with security coalitions. Not only are longtime treaty Allies the Philippines and the United States enhancing cooperation, but groupings such as Australia, Japan and the Philippines are also bolstering defense collaboration.
In 2016, an international tribunal in The Hague rejected the Chinese government’s expansive claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, ruling it has had no legal basis. The ruling also rebuked the CCP’s behavior in the South China Sea, including its construction of artificial islands in the region and in Philippine waters. Beijing, however, has ignored the ruling and persists in its illegal claims.
The CCP’s position is exacerbated by its contention that the self-governed island of Taiwan, which separates the seas, is part of China and must unite with the mainland, by force if necessary. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army repeatedly stages military exercises off Taiwan’s coast while also inundating the island’s citizens with threats and manipulated information.
Meanwhile, Chinese coast guard vessels since early 2023 have harassed Philippine fishermen and rammed, blocked and fired water cannons at vessels delivering food and other supplies to a handful of Soldiers stationed on the Sierra Madre, a Philippine Navy ship intentionally marooned in 1999 on Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, within the Philippine EEZ. Since an especially violent assault on June 17, 2024, the CCP has reinforced its false claim to the seas’ features with patrols by its maritime militia fleet and its largest coast guard ship, Radio Free Asia reported.
