Philippine President Takes Tough Stand Warning China About “Red Line”

By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News

It may have been overshadowed by rising tensions between China and Taiwan – but last weekend, the conflict between Beijing and the Philippines in the South China Sea took center stage for a while.

That happened at the Shangri-La Forum in Singapore, a security forum that annually attracts defense chiefs from around the world. This year, both US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III and China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun were there.

So, too, was Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who on Friday warned Beijing not to cross what he called a “red line”. It all has to do with two shoals that lie within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). China has ignored that designation and claims 90 percent of the South China Sea as its own.

The result: China’s coastguard has used water cannon and collision and ramming tactics to harass Philippine supply and patrol ships. Those actions came up in a question-and-answer session following Marcos’s speech.

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Marcos was asked what would happen if a Chinese water cannon killed a Filipino on one of the ships. Would that be a “red line,” the questioner asked, and would it trigger the security treaty that requires the US to come to the Philippines’ aid in the event of an attack.