10
Loading video...
By John Feng
China Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Beijing on Friday accused Manila of "making waves" by involving extra-regional powers in their long-running territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said "external countries"—a hint at the United States—were sowing discord in the contested waters by joining multilateral naval exercises with the Philippines, America's oldest treaty ally in Asia.
"Such actions disrupt peace and stability in the South China Sea and undermine the interests and well-being of people in the region," said Zhang.
Read More on World
Physical clashes between Chinese and Philippine law enforcement vessels have subsided in recent weeks, but political tensions remain high over islands, reefs as well as maritime zones claimed by both sides.
This week, first Manila and then Beijing announced domestic legislation that sought to solidify their respective legal claims to territories including Scarborough Shoal, the reef inside the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone, forcefully occupied by China's forces since 2012.
Beijing claims a historic right to all the features in the South China Sea, dismissing in the process a 2016 arbitral award in The Hague that sought to invalidate its so-called "dashed line." On Wednesday, the Chinese military said it sent air and naval forces to patrol Scarborough Shoal.
Washington officially takes no position on sovereignty over the myriad features in the South China Sea, but it supports Manila's U.N.-backed sovereign right to maritime areas and underwater resources within the Philippines EEZ, which overlaps with the disputed Spratly archipelago claimed by six regional governments.
Zhang, the Chinese Defense Ministry official, said the region does not welcome "those who create nothing but trouble and conflict," another indirect reference to the United States. He urged the Philippines to return to bilateral negotiations.
...
The Typhon Factor
Topping Beijing's grievances in recent months is the U.S. Army-operated Typhon missile vehicle, which has been parked in northern Philippines on the edge of the South China Sea for more than half a year. It was flown in for a bilateral exercise in April.
The Typhon system can launch the supersonic Standard Missile-6 up to 290 miles and the Tomahawk cruise missile at least 1,000 miles, putting much of coastal China within reach from its current position in the Philippine island of Luzon.
U.S. and Philippine officials said previously that the deployment would be temporary, but political leaders in Manila now say they want to purchase the system for the Philippines armed forces, a move that would be "extremely irresponsible," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.
"China has repeatedly expressed our firm opposition to the U.S. deployment of the mid-range missile system in the Philippines," Zhang, the Chinese defense spokesperson, said two weeks earlier.
"The U.S. has withdrawn from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, developed the Typhon mid-range missile system, and used it as a tool to maintain its hegemony," Zhang said.
Commentary in the Chinese press and on social media websites speculates that Manila is using the Typhon system—sometimes referred to as the Mid-Range Capability, or MRC—as leverage to force Beijing to back down in the South China Sea. In September, an expert quoted by the state-backed Global Times tabloid said the Typhon system could deter China in a smaller conflict but would not do so enough to overwhelm Chinese forces in a larger war.
"The MRC remains in the Philippines at the request of the Philippine Government. These activities are part of our normal, longstanding defense relationship with the Philippines, strengthening force readiness and regional security," Maj. Pete Nguyen, a U.S. Defense Department spokesperson, told Newsweek by email.
"U.S. decisions around the deployment of capabilities reflect operational considerations and are taken in close coordination and consultation with our allies and partners, including the Philippines," Nguyen said.
The Philippines Defense Department did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment after hour.
Update 11/16/24, 3 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional comments.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines