BEJING
\nThe United States has accused China of \u201charassment and intimidation of Philippine vessels\u201d and called on Beijing to end \u201cprovocative\u201d action in the South China Sea after a recent near-collision between a Chinese vessel and a Philippine Coast Guard boat.
\n\u201cWe call upon Beijing to desist from its provocative and unsafe conduct,\u201d US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement on Saturday, just two days before President Joe Biden is to host his counterpart, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, in Washington, DC.
\nThe State Department also warned that an attack on Philippine security forces or public vessels would trigger a US response.
\n\u201cThe United States stands with our Philippine allies in upholding the rules-based international maritime order and reaffirms that an armed attack in the Pacific, which includes the South China Sea, on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft, including those of the Coast Guard, would invoke US mutual defense commitments,\u201d Miller said in the statement.
\nThe US was responding to a near-miss between Chinese and Philippine vessels off the Spratly Islands \u2014 the latest in a long string of maritime incident between the two countries in the restive South China Sea.
\nThe Philippines on Friday accused China\u2019s coast guard of \u201caggressive tactics\u201d following an incident during a Philippine Coast Guard patrol close to the Philippines-held Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Achipelago, a flashpoint for previous altercations located 105 nautical miles (195km) off its coast.
\nThe Second Thomas Shoal is home to a small Philippine military contingent on board a rusty World War Two-era US ship that was intentionally grounded in 1999 to reinforce the Philippines\u2019s territorial claims in the South China Sea.
\nBeijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, ignoring an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis.
\nReporters with among staff from several media outlets that witnessed the recent incident after journalists were invited to join two Philippine Coast Guard boats on a six-day patrol of the waters, visiting a dozen islands and reefs.
\nThe Philippine vessels approached Second Thomas Shoal, known in China as Ren\u2019ai Jiao. As one boat, the BRP Malapascua, which was carrying Filipino journalists, neared the shoal, a Chinese Coast Guard vessel more than twice its size sailed into its path. The Malapascua\u2019s commanding officer said the Chinese ship came within 45 metres (150ft) of his boat, and only his quick actions avoided the steel-hulled vessels crashing into each other.
\nThe Chinese foreign ministry said on Friday that the Philippine boats had \u201cintruded\u201d without China\u2019s permission and called it a \u201cpremeditated and provocative action\u201d.
\nManila responded, saying that \u201croutine patrols in our own waters can be neither premeditated or provocative\u201d and insisting they will continue to conduct the patrols.
\nPhilippine President Marcos has insisted he will not let China undermine his country\u2019s rights in the sea and has gravitated towards the US as he seeks to strengthen defence ties with Washington in the face of an increasingly aggressive China regionally.
\nThis shift has alarmed China, which has accused Washington of trying to drive a wedge between Beijing and Manila.
\nMarcos is due to arrive in the US on Sunday for a four-day visit that Philippines officials say is aimed at reaffirming the special relationship between Manila and Washington, who are longtime allies.
\nA senior US administration official told that it was impossible to underestimate the strategic importance of the Philippines, although the relationship was more than just about security.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re seeking not to be provocative, but to provide both moral and practical support for the Philippines as they try to make their way in a complex Western Pacific,\u201d the official said. \u201cTheir geographic position is critical,\u201d he added.
\nExperts say Washington sees the Philippines as a potential location for rockets, missiles and artillery systems to counter a Chinese amphibious invasion of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.
\nUS Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said after the first combined meeting of top US and Philippines defence officials earlier this month that it was \u201ctoo early\u201d to discuss what assets the US would like to station at bases in the Philippines.
\nIt is a delicate issue for Manila, not only because of its concerns about China, its main trading partner, but given domestic opposition to US military presence in the past.
\nThe two sides did agree to complete a road map in coming months for the delivery of US defence assistance to Manila over the next five to 10 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEJING The United States has accused China of \u201charassment and intimidation of Philippine vessels\u201d and called on Beijing to end \u201cprovocative\u201d action in the South China Sea after a recent near-collision between a Chinese vessel and a Philippine Coast Guard boat. \u201cWe call upon Beijing to desist from its provocative and unsafe conduct,\u201d US State […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-328538","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n