Ex-Trump adviser says China’s clash with Philippines is ‘dress rehearsal’ for Taiwan attack

Matthew Pottinger, who served in former president Donald Trump’s administration, also endorsed joint US-Philippine resupply missions to the Second Thomas Shoal

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China and the Philippines have repeatedly clashed in the South China Sea, with the latest skirmish last month between the Philippine navy and the Chinese coastguard. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 3:38am, 3 Jul 2024Updated: 6:32am, 3 Jul 2024

A former top US national security adviser said on Tuesday that Beijing was using a stand-off with the Philippines in the South China Sea as a “dress rehearsal” for an attack on Taiwan.

Speaking at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, Matthew Pottinger, the top Asia adviser on former president Donald Trump’s National Security Council, said the US should help resupply Filipino marines on the Second Thomas Shoal as a signal to China that the US will support allies in the region militarily.

In recent clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels near the shoal, Beijing has acted with “impunity”, Pottinger said. “Why is Beijing targeting this little island to begin with? It’s mainly about trying to discredit the United States. It’s a dress rehearsal for Taiwan.”

“They’re doing it on a little tiny model of Taiwan, which is this little island … that is not, by itself, a major, geo-strategically important spot,” he said, adding that Beijing is “trying to demonstrate that they can blockade, create a sense of futility and discredit the idea that the United States is going to help not only the Philippines but by extension Taiwan”.

Manila and Beijing have been locked in a months-long territorial row in the South China Sea, with the latest skirmish last month between the Philippine navy and the Chinese coastguard. The melee caused injuries to several Filipinos, including a sailor who lost a finger.

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Philippine forces were on a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II vessel deliberately grounded on the Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 and occupied by their fellow troops. The flashpoint is known to Manila as the Ayungin Shoal; Beijing calls it Renai Jiao. Both sides claim it is a part of their maritime territory.