The Philippines’ push for maritime transparency is rallying international support against Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea, analysts say, with the United States and European powers increasing their military presence in the region despite China’s warnings.
China has repeatedly warned the US and other non-claimant states to stay out of the territorial dispute. During a meeting with President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru on Saturday, President Xi Jinping reiterated China’s preference for a bilateral resolution.
“Dialogue and consultation between states concerned is always the best way to manage differences in the South China Sea,” Xi said, urging the US “not get involved” in disputes over “Nansha Qundao”, Beijing’s name for the Spratly Islands.
But experts at a recent South China Sea forum in Manila suggested that such warnings were losing their potency against a backdrop of growing international consensus, as reflected in recent European military deployments to the Indo-Pacific.
While France and Britain have long maintained a military presence in the region, the Netherlands, Turkey, Germany and Italy have also dispatched assets within the past year, noted Dr Sarah Kirchberger, head of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Strategy and Security in Germany, who was speaking during The Manila Dialogue on the South China Sea on November 7.
“This is a type of presence that we’ve not been seeing,” she said, suggesting that this could signal the start of a broader trend as other European countries like Norway and Greece have also announced plans to send units to the Indo-Pacific.
The “chief worry” driving these moves “is really the deteriorating security environment globally”, Kirchberger said. “In particular, the danger of war in Taiwan, but also the hotspots in the South China Sea.”
She credited the Philippines’ transparency initiative, which aims to publicise China’s coercive maritime actions, with increasing awareness and said the effectiveness of “being more vocal” was becoming evident.
