{"id":2078610,"date":"2023-10-25T04:18:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T08:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-china-sea-crisis-flares-up-as-australian-leader-heads-to-washington\/"},"modified":"2023-10-25T04:23:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T08:23:15","slug":"south-china-sea-crisis-flares-up-as-australian-leader-heads-to-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-china-sea-crisis-flares-up-as-australian-leader-heads-to-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"South China Sea crisis escalates as Australian leader heads to Washington."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsouth-china-sea-crisis-flares-up-as-australian-leader-heads-to-washington%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2078610&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>An \u200cEscalating \u2062Dispute in the South China Sea \u200dRaises Concerns of Military Standoff<\/h2>\n<p>An \u200bintensifying dispute in the \u2062South China \u2062Sea \u200dcould have significant repercussions for China&#8217;s attempt to seize territory from the Philippines and \u200beven \u2064ignite a military standoff between the communist regime and the United\u200d States.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;re at the point where [China\u2019s] \u200cnext step\u2062 here \u200bis use of deadly force or \u200cto back off,\u201d American Enterprise Institute nonresident\u2062 fellow Mike Mazza told the Washington Examiner. \u201cAnd backing off is possible \u2014\u2064 it&#8217;s not \u200blike China has never \u200cbacked off of anything \u200bbefore \u2014 but that&#8217;s not really\u200c Xi\u200c Jinping&#8217;s style. It \u200bjust seems like eventually somebody&#8217;s going to get hurt or killed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>The Brewing Crisis<\/h3>\n<p>The crisis\u2064 is brewing around the \u200bSecond Thomas Shoal, a formation in the \u200dSouth China Sea that China claims as its \u2062own even though it falls within the island state\u2019s \u2063<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/philippine-china-maritime-disputes-fuel-risk-of-crisis-between-washington-and-beijing\/\" title=\"Philippine-China maritime tensions heighten risk of Washington-Beijing crisis.\">exclusive \u200beconomic zone<\/a>. Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels collided with a Philippine \u200ccoast guard and supply boat attempting to reach\u200b a\u200c grounded ship that Philippine forces use as a military \u200boutpost in the contested area. Philippine authorities intend to maintain their claim\u2064 to \u200cthe outpost.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are considering taking more resolute steps to respond to this increased provocation \u200dand\u200d increased aggression coming from \u2063the People\u2019s Republic of China,\u201d Philippine National\u200c Security\u200c Council \u200cAssistant Director Jonathan Malaya told local press on\u2062 Tuesday.<\/p>\n<h3>The United States&#8217;\u2062 Stance<\/h3>\n<p>The\u2064 United States has\u2064 a\u2064 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/china-commissions-three-warships-in-a-single-day\/\" title=\"China Commissions Three Warships In A Single Day\">mutual defense treaty<\/a> with the Philippines \u200band also sees a need to reject China\u2019s attempt to lay claim to most of the South China Sea. It occurred just days after Chinese fighter jets\u2064 harassed a Canadian surveillance plane participating in a United Nations mission \u200dto \u200cenforce sanctions on North Korea, which \u2064extended \u200ba \u200dpattern of Chinese maneuvers around\u200b the U.S. and allied militaries in the region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe understand that they \u200bhave ambitions to drive the United States out \u2064of the region. They have an interest in driving wedges\u200c between the United States \u200cand our allies and partners,\u201d Dr. \u2063Ely\u2062 Ratner, who\u2063 leads the Defense \u200cDepartment\u2019s \u200bIndo-Pacific Security Affairs bureau,\u200c said Monday at \u200bthe\u2062 Atlantic Council. \u201cSo, this \u200bis <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-china-sea-crisis-flares-up-as-australian-leader-heads-to-washington\/\" title=\"South China Sea crisis escalates as Australian leader heads to Washington.\">counter normative behavior \u2026 \u200bpart<\/a> and parcel of a broader effort \u2062by \u2064the PRC to refashion \u200bthe Indo-Pacific region\u200c away from the kind of free and open Indo-Pacific that\u2063 we\u2019re trying to build.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Controversy Amid \u2063Diplomatic Meetings<\/h3>\n<p>The controversy is simmering just as President Joe Biden hosts a key ally in the Pacific this week, Australian \u200cPrime Minister Anthony Albanese, for a state visit.\u2062 Albanese,\u2062 whose country plays a key role in the\u200c U.S. \u200cstrategy to mitigate threats from China,\u2062 will depart from Washington on the same day that China\u2019s top diplomat arrives in the city for meetings with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other\u2062 officials. Albanese plans to make a \u200cseparate trek to \u200dBeijing next month in an apparent attempt \u200bto mitigate the acrimony between his country and the communist power.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2062 effort will but up against U.S.\u2064 requests and Australian interests in responding to the South China Sea developments in a way which is \u2063supportive of the United States and the Philippines,\u201d Mazza \u2063said. \u201cYou would hope at least that &#8230; whatever joint statement they make is quite pointed and specific. If, instead, \u2064it&#8217;s vague commentary on the \u2063need for freedom of navigation\u2062 in the South China Sea, \u2064I\u2063 think that will \u2063be a \u200ddisappointment\u200b for the Biden administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Potential Trigger of the Mutual Defense Treaty<\/h3>\n<p>The weekend collisions drew a warning from \u200cBlinken\u2019s team, which warned Beijing that \u201carmed attacks on Philippine \u2064armed forces, public vessels, and aircraft, including\u200b those of its coast guard, anywhere in the South\u200c China Sea\u201d could warrant triggering \u2064of\u2063 the mutual defense treaty between \u2063the\u200d Philippines and the U.S. Philippine President Ferdinand\u2064 Marcos Jr.\u2019s \u2064team has signaled that it won\u2019t take\u200c that step unless China\u2019s \u2064tactics change.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs stated in the MDT, an armed attack on a public vessel of the Philippines will be enough to trigger the Mutual Defense\u200b Treaty,\u201d Malaya, the Philippine NSC official, said.\u200c \u201cHowever, \u2062there was no armed attack,\u2063 so there would be no basis to trigger\u200b the MDT.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The\u200b Need for a Plan<\/h3>\n<p>That \u2064assessment, however, does not alleviate the pressure to develop \u2063a plan to manage China\u2019s \u201cslow-intensity conflict\u201d with\u2063 the Philippines, as another analyst\u200c put it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Chinese think \u2062they&#8217;ve got this figured out. \u2026\u200d They\u2019re fairly confident \u2064that they know how to keep this\u200b below \u200bthe threshold of \u200coutright conflict.\u201d United States Institute of Peace \u2062distinguished fellow\u2064 Andrew Scobell \u2064told the Washington Examiner. \u201cI start to get worried when people get hurt or killed. And that can happen with these kinds of things.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Race Against Time<\/h3>\n<p>The controversy has lingered for\u200c more than two decades, \u200cbut Chinese \u2064strategists may envision a significant reward for taking more strident actions to prevent the resupply of the\u200b Philippine forces.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMother Nature has a say in how quickly this \u200cbecomes a real \u200bcrisis, \u2062as the grounded ship that \u2064the Philippines is using to secure its territory may break up before the end of the year,\u201d longtime China\u2063 watcher Bill Bishop wrote \u200dthis week in Sinocism. \u201cAnd that is what the PRC is waiting for, then they will \u200bswoop in and declare possession, unless the Philippines can\u200b get a lot\u2064 of concrete and construction materials \u200bto\u200d the \u200dSierra\u200d Madre\u200d soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Call for\u200d Additional Measures<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThe Chinese Communist Party\u2019s dangerous, and illegal, attacks against our ally are\u200c completely unacceptable,\u201d House\u200d China Select\u200b Committee Chairman \u2064Mike Gallagher (R-WI) said\u2062 Monday.\u200b \u201cIt is time\u2063 to take additional measures to \u2063support our \u2063commitments\u200d under the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense \u200dTreaty, including by assisting the Philippines in establishing \u200ba more secure and permanent foothold on the Second Thomas Shoal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That assistance\u2062 perhaps should entail a U.S. escort for the Philippine supply ships, according to Mazza and another prominent analyst.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat probably is \u200dthe\u200c next step,\u201d said Center for a New American Security senior\u2062 fellow Lisa Curtis, a \u201ckey \u200bcontributor\u201d to U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific at the White House National Security\u2063 Council from 2017 to 2021. \u201cUnless China backs away from this confrontational approach, \u200cI do\u2063 think\u200d it would be appropriate for\u2062 the U.S. to consider naval \u200bescorts of Philippine \u2063vessels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The\u200c U.S.\u200d escorted supply\u200b ships between Taiwan and\u200c its\u2064 outlying islands\u200b in 1958, when the U.S. still had a \u2063defense treaty with the Republic of\u2063 China government that had taken refuge on Taiwan \u2064after the CCP\u2019s victory in the Chinese \u2064Civil War.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow fast \u2064forward to today: The Chinese \u2064don&#8217;t want to get into a shooting war in the U.S., but it&#8217;s an open question\u2063 about how something like that \u2026 might play out,\u201d Scobell said. \u2064\u201cThis isn&#8217;t destined, or [it is] not\u200c inevitable that it&#8217;s going to explode.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mazza agreed. \u201cI\u200c don&#8217;t think\u2064 they&#8217;re looking for an\u2063 actual fight at this point, but they are playing with fire, for sure,\u201d \u200bhe said.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> \u200cWhy is \u2064it crucial\u200b for all parties involved to prioritize dialogue, diplomacy, and the preservation of peace in the South China Sea dispute<\/h2>\n<p><span>  K apart due to natural factors,\u201d Mazza explained. \u201cIt could be\u200c that there is a race against time here and odds are better\u2063 in favor of an escalation in Chinese aggression.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>If the situation in the South China Sea continues to escalate, it could have \u2062serious implications not only\u2063 for \u200dthe Philippines and\u2064 China,\u200c but also for the United \u200cStates. The United States has a vested interest in maintaining freedom of navigation in\u2062 the\u200d region and in upholding its\u200d mutual defense\u2064 treaty with the Philippines. \u200dA military standoff between China and the United States could have far-reaching consequences,\u200c not\u200c just \u2062in\u200b the region but\u2064 also for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidens-concerning-foreign-policy\/\" title=\"Biden\u2019s Concerning Foreign Policy\">global security<\/a> \u2063and stability. <\/p>\n<p>It is\u2062 therefore crucial for all parties involved to find a\u200c peaceful resolution to the \u200bdispute.\u200b Diplomatic\u200d efforts, such \u2064as the upcoming meetings\u2062 between Chinese diplomats and U.S. officials, should be utilized to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/14-americans-murdered-by-hamas-u-s-citizens-taken-hostage-biden\/\" title=\"Biden: 14 Americans killed, U.S. citizens held hostage by Hamas.\">de-escalate \u2064tensions<\/a> and find common ground. The international community, including \u2063countries like Australia, should also play a \u200crole\u2062 in mediating the conflict. \u200b <\/p>\n<p>As the\u200c crisis in the \u200bSouth China Sea continues\u2064 to \u200dunfold, it is essential for \u200call parties to prioritize dialogue, diplomacy, and the preservation of peace. The potential for\u200c a military standoff and the use of deadly \u2063force should serve as a wake-up call for the international community to come together and\u2063 find a peaceful solution to this escalating\u2064 dispute. Failure to do so could have dire consequences for the region and \u200bthe world\u200c as a whole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An escalating South China Sea dispute may have grave consequences for China&#8217;s territorial ambitions against the Philippines, potentially leading to a military standoff with the US. China&#8217;s next move could involve deadly force or retreat, reaching a critical juncture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2078611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2078610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2078610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2078611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2078610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2078610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2078610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}