03/27/2024

Why the U.S. Faces a Delicate Balancing Act on Countering China in the South China Sea

For years, China has been testing the nation's resolve

For years, China has been testing the limits of its aggression in the South China Sea to see how much it can push before someone, meaningfully, pushes back. It's a dangerous game that recently left three Philippine Navy personnel injured after their resupply ship to the Second Thomas Shoal, an atoll at the center of disputes over rival territorial claims of the all-important waterway through which a third of the world's trade passes, was surrounded and fired upon with a water cannon by Chinese coast guard and militia vessels.

In video of the March 23 incident, crew members could be heard shouting as jets of water pummeled the Philippine ship, which sustained heavy damage.

It’s not the first such attack by Chinese forces on Philippine sailors, nor is it likely to be the last. But looming over the increasingly confrontational encounters between the two nations is the potential of future U.S. military involvement. A mutual defense treaty between Washington and Manila necessitates one to come to the support of the other in the case of an "armed attack"—though it remains unclear what exactly would constitute as such. 

Please select this link to read the complete article from TIME.