On Thursday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced the Philippines will implement countermeasures against China’s coastguard.
More specifically, the President states that the Philippines will begin to implement countermeasures against “illegal, coercive, aggressive, and dangerous attacks”. The Philippines has become “furious” over repeated acts of hostility. The presence of Chinese vessels within Manila’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone is a particular point of contention. The United States has backed the Philippines with moral support. So far, Marcos has not defined what exactly the countermeasures would look like. However, he did state that they would be proportionate, deliberate, and reasonable responses to the “open and unabating attacks” by China. On Thursday, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian stated that the Philippines was to blame for the deterioration of the relationship between the two countries. He continued by asserting that the Philippines was infringing on China’s sovereignty and peddling misinformation against China. This comes following a strengthening of defense relations between the Philippines and the U.S. So far, this has included broader U.S. access to Philippine military bases, as well as conducting joint air and sea exercises over the South China Sea. On Monday, China, which has placed territorial claims over the South China Sea, warned the Philippines to “behave cautiously and seek dialogue”. On Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reaffirmed the US commitment to a 1951 mutual defense treaty with the Philippines. This treaty ensures that both countries will defend one another if under attack. China’s defense spokesperson responded to the promise of countermeasures by asserting that Beijing would “take resolute and decisive measures to defend its sovereignty”.
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