MANILA, Philippines | The president of the Philippines said Thursday that his government would enforce a “countermeasure package” in response to “aggressive and dangerous attacks” by the Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships in the disputed South China Sea, warning, “Filipinos do not yield.”
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did not provide details of the actions his government would take in the succeeding weeks but said these would be “proportionate, deliberate and reasonable in the face of the open, unabating, and illegal, coercive, aggressive and dangerous attacks by agents of the China coast guard and Chinese maritime militia.”
“We seek no conflict with any nation,” Mr. Marcos wrote on social media, but said the Philippines would not be “cowed into silence” by its larger, more powerful rival.
Mr. Marcos’s warning is the latest sign of the escalating disputes between Beijing and Manila in the contested waters that have caused minor collisions between the coast guard and other vessels of the rival claimant nations, sparked a war of words and strained relations. Many fear the U.S. military could be drawn in to the fight given the mutual defense pact it has with the Philippines.
China and the Philippines, as well as Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway, where a bulk of the world’s commerce and oil transits.
Chinese officials in Manila or Beijing did not immediately respond to the president’s public warning, which he issued during Holy Week — one of the most sacred religious periods in the largely Roman Catholic nation.
Mr. Marcos said he issued the statement after meeting top Philippine defense and national security officials, who submitted their recommendations. He added without elaborating that he has also been in constant talks with “allies, partners and friends in the international community,” who he said had offered to help the Philippines protect its sovereignty.
The Pentagon confirmed separately that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke by phone with Philippine defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. Wednesday.
In the latest hostilities on Saturday, the Chinese coast guard used water cannons that injured several Philippine navy crewmen and heavily damaged their wooden supply boat near the disputed Second Thomas Shoal. The cannon blast was so strong it threw a crewman off the floor but he hit a wall instead of plunging into the sea, Philippine military officials said.
The Philippine government summoned a Chinese Embassy diplomat in Manila to convey its “strongest protest.” Beijing accused the Philippine vessels of intruding into Chinese territorial waters, warning Manila not to “play with fire” and saying China would continue to take actions to defend its sovereignty.
The Biden administration condemned the actions by the Chinese coast guard. In his phone call with Mr. Teodoro, Mr. Austin asserted again the U.S. is obligated to come to the aid of the Philippines under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty if Philippine forces, aircraft and ships come under armed attack, including anywhere in the South China Sea, Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said.
Beijing has warned Washington to stay away from what it says is a purely Asian dispute, and accused Manila of hyping the crisis for its own benefit.
“Who’s been stirring up trouble and making provocations on the South China Sea issue? Who’s been breaching the common understandings between our two countries and reneged on their own commitments?” asked Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said a Thursday press briefing in Beijing. ” … Who’s been pulling forces outside the region to interfere in the issue?”
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