No willingness in region to join the Philippines' games

The Philippines on Tuesday accused the China Coast Guard of carrying out "dangerous maneuvers" that led to a collision between one of its coast guard ships and a Chinese vessel.

Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Jay Tarriela said in a social media post: "Their reckless and illegal actions led to a collision", which caused "minor structural damage" to the Philippine vessel.

The CCG issued a brief statement on the same day regarding the incident saying that it took "necessary measures" to drive the Philippine vessel out of Chinese waters in accordance with the law, indicating the Philippine spokesperson had concealed some crucial details. Even the video clips Manila released clearly show that it is the Philippine vessel that took the initiative to make contact with the Chinese ship.

What Tarriela didn't say is that the mission the Philippine vessel was engaged in was intended to resupply the Philippine troops stationed in a World War II-era warship the Philippines intentionally and illegally grounded on China's Ren'ai Reef in 1999, and whether the materials to be supplied to them contained building materials that can be used to shore up the already battered ship, which the Chinese side strictly opposes.

After the Philippine ship collapses in the foreseeable future, the Philippine troops will have to withdraw from the Chinese reef that they are squatting on. It is Washington that has incited Manila to take advantage of the Philippines' territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea, to try and muddy the otherwise peaceful waters for the US' narrow ends.

Beijing will by no means allow the Philippines to turn the old ship into a permanent foothold on China's reef. That it has given a green light to Manila delivering life supplies to its troops on that ship for nearly three decades is out of humanity and the consideration that the dispute should not be allowed to define the whole of Sino-Philippine relations and it should be settled through negotiations.

The Ferdinand Marcos Jr government of the Philippines is well aware of the ugly role it has been playing at the behest of the US. That its call for other regional countries to join the Philippines to do the same has met with a cold shoulder demonstrates that none of its neighbors wants to involve itself in the bloc confrontation sought by Washington, as well as their common view that Manila's moves are destabilizing the region.

The latest sign of regional countries' aversion toward Manila's solicitations is the Malaysian leader's remarks on Monday. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in the Australian city of Melbourne: "So while we remain… an important friend to the United States and Europe and here in Australia, they should not preclude us from being friendly to one of our important neighbors, precisely China."

"We are an independent nation, we are fiercely independent, we do not want to be dictated to by any force," Anwar said. "If they have problems with China, they should not impose it upon us. We do not have a problem with China."

That represents a common voice of the region and highlights the pressure being applied by the US and its allies on regional nations to take their side in their strategic rivalry with Beijing, as well as how the Marcos government has isolated the Philippines from the ASEAN family on the issue.

Considering the Philippines urged regional neighbors in the same meeting on Monday to stand together more strongly in upholding the "rule of law" in the South China Sea, Anwar's admonishing was apparently not only intended for Western ears. The other ASEAN member states should be wary of Manila advancing the US' agenda in the region at the cost of the organization's solidarity, which, if unchecked, will shatter ASEAN's "central role" in the region and make the organization another pawn of the US.