The clashes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea is on everybody’s lips in Manila.
Prayers broadcast on the radio plead to a higher power for provocateurs to be kept out. Tensions are high, and the Southeast Asian archipelago needs to work with both Beijing and Washington to lower the temperature, but not capitulate to Chinese demands. Doing so would set a precedent for other claimants with stakes in the waterway that would be next to impossible to row back from.
The challenge for Manila now is to balance its economic interests with China without ceding its territorial rights. A recent incident in the contested waterway, on June 17, between Filipino sailors on a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, and the Chinese Coast Guard was among the more aggressive. It’s not as much that Beijing has won this round — the resupply mission was aborted — but that Manila bungled the fallout with various departments at odds about what actually happened. There appears to be a greater degree of unity now and that is critical as the country attempts to manage the China threat.