Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos condemned the “increasing frequency and intensity” of China's maritime aggression following a laser incident that underscores the security fears driving a new alignment of U.S. and allied democracies in the Indo-Pacific.
“The consistent, petty acts of coercion are the norm now, despite whatever efforts at the political level might have been underway to reset relations between the Philippines and China,” Center for Strategic and International Studies senior Gregory Poling said. “This is just daily life in the South China Sea — constant, low-level risk of violence and escalation.”
That comment was a retort to Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s team, which warned China that the defense treaty applies to coast guard vessels as well as other military assets. “The likelihood of escalation in the South China Sea remains pretty low between the U.S. and China, but that doesn't mean that it's a low between, say, the Philippines and China, or Vietnam and China,” American Enterprise senior fellow Zack Cooper said. “Beijing has shown that it's perfectly willing to try and push around smaller players in the South China Sea, and that it will probably continue to do that, even if it risks angering those governments.
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