China’s state-owned and controlled media posted a news story and photo, where it seized control of an uninhabited feature in the South China Sea, a clear violation of the 2002 informal code of conduct it agreed to with the 10 Southeast Asian Nations.
China’s Global Times reported that its Coast Guard landed and planted a Chinese flag on Sandy Cay to “enforce maritime management and exercise sovereign jurisdiction.”
Sandy Cay is about three kilometers from Pagasa Island, internationally known as Thitu Island, the largest of nine features occupied by the Philippines in the South China Sea.
Chinese occupation of Sandy Cay has serious implications for the country’s security since it’s entitled to a 12-mile territorial water, which overlaps with the Philippine feature.
Foreign policy and security experts had serious doubts whether Beijing would put up structures on Sandy Cay because it would violate an informal Code of Conduct, a political document signed in Phnom Penh in 2002, the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
The action was similar to what China had done in June 2012 when it seized control of Bajo de Masinloc after a three-month standoff with the Philippines.
China did not build any structure on Bajo de Masinloc but exercised tight control by preventing the Philippines and other states from fishing or getting near the rocky outcrop.
Beijing also understood that Bajo de Masonli is a red line that it should not cross, as it would invite an adverse reaction from the United States.
Bajo de Masinloc straddles international trade routes and is less than 200 nautical miles from a former US naval base in Subic, where US destroyers, submarines, and other surface combatant vessels docked for refueling, servicing, and repairing.
However, the Sandy Cay case is different. Its proximity to Pagasa Island allows the Chinese to monitor Philippine military activities and movements in the disputed waters.
It could also choke Philippine supply routes to its occupied features in the South China Sea, forcing the Philippines to abandon its prized possession in the disputed seas.
China plans to take control of Sandy Cay by preventing the Philippines from gaining a foothold on the feature.
Philippine security officials, however, dismissed the Chinese Coast Guard publicity stunt on Sandy Cay.
They dismissed it as only a “photo opportunity.” Filipino soldiers were also sent to the three sandbars, where they planted Philippine flags to prove the features remained in the country’s hands.
Filipinos visited Sandy Cay during low tide for many years, allowing easy access to the area.
China had taken great interest in the uninhabited sandbars. It reinforced China’s sovereignty claim on Subi Reef, only a few miles from Pagasa Island.
Lately, however, the Chinese Coast Guard and Navy harassed Filipinos on a scientific research missions on Sandy Cay.
Chinese Coast Guard and militia vessels blocked Philippine vessels from getting the feature, a strategy it conducted in Bajo de Masinloc.
Filipinos were only allowed to fish some 20 nautical miles away from Bajo de Masinloc. Fishermen who tried to get near were chased and driven away.
China was using the same tactics in Sandy Cay. For instance, early this year, Beijing claimed it prevented the Philippines from landing and taking water and soil samples from Sandy Cay.
Like dominoes, China has been seizing and taking full control of uninhabited features in areas near Philippine-occupied features.
It has the luxury of sending dozens of militia and coast guard vessels to guard the uninhabited features, but it cannot build structures because of the informal Code.
China has more than 200 militia vessels and dozens of navy and maritime law enforcement vessels to patrol and protect China’s interests in the South China Sea.
Thus, China can afford to swarm the Philippine-occupied features outside the West Philippine Sea with dozens of Coast Guard, Navy, and militia vessels.
The Philippines has limited capability, with fewer than two dozen ocean-going vessels to patrol and protect the country’s interests.
Experts feared China’s latest actions could lead to miscalculations and accidents that may trigger a limited regional conflict.
The Philippines must rethink its West Philippine Sea strategies to prevent China from seizing and taking control of strategic reefs and atolls in the South China Sea.
Holding multilateral maritime cooperative activities with Australia, Japan, and the United States could be an effective strategy to stop Beijing from occupying and controlling the uninhabited features.
Perhaps, it was the reason why China has been stalling the conclusion of a formal Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
China may agree to a legally binding agreement, but once it has established dominant control in the region’s disputed waters.
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