South China Sea: is Beijing abusing Philippines talks to mask its ‘policy of aggression’?

Analysts argue Beijing’s negotiations with the Philippines are being exploited to normalise China’s control over contested territory

Reading Time:3 minutes

Philippine coastguard personnel prepare rubber fenders after a Chinese coastguard vessel blocked the way during a resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal in March. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:00am, 9 Jul 2024Updated: 10:52am, 9 Jul 2024

Despite pledges to de-escalate tensions in the South China Sea, analysts and sources familiar with Beijing and Manila’s negotiations allege that China is exploiting the bilateral talks as a strategy to legitimise its control over disputed maritime territory in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

Following the latest round of the China-Philippines Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) on the South China Sea, held in Manila on July 2, the Philippine government acknowledged that “significant differences remain” between the two countries’ positions.

The Philippine foreign ministry vowed to be “relentless in protecting its interests and upholding its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea” – the local designation for the parts of the South China Sea claimed by Manila.

In contrast, China’s foreign ministry said the two sides had a “candid and constructive exchange of views” during the BCM, while reasserting Beijing’s sovereignty over the Spratly Islands, including the Second Thomas Shoal – territory that falls within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, according to a 2016 international arbitral ruling.

The ruling by the United Nations International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) rejected China’s expansive “nine-dash line” claims over much of the South China Sea. However, Beijing has dismissed the tribunal’s decision as illegitimate, since it did not participate in the arbitration, and maintains its sovereignty assertions over areas within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.