As South China Sea dispute heats up, Australia charts a careful course

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Singapore: The Australian government is trying to chart a careful course in the South China Sea as it considers joint naval patrols in the disputed waterway with the Philippines while simultaneously bidding to improve relations with Beijing.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles flies to Manila on Friday for talks with Philippine Secretary of National Defence Gilberto Teodoro, his second trip there this year.

Richard Marles flagged joint patrols with the Philippines on a visit to Manila in February. He will visit again on Friday.Credit: AAP

He’ll be followed in a fortnight by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who will meet President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos jnr en route to the G20 summit in Delhi.

The visits come amid a ratcheting up of tension in the resource-rich waterway, where Beijing has militarised artificial islands and has been accused of dangerous grey zone tactics and bullying of other claimant states.

In the latest escalation, a Chinese Coast Guard ship blocked and fired a water cannon at a Philippine resupply vessel which was transporting provisions to the crew on a dilapidated warship that Manila deliberately grounded almost a quarter of a century ago as a mark of its territory.

The August 5 incident near Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the contested Spratly Islands, left the Philippines up in arms and has renewed discussion about joint patrols in the area in an effort to counter China’s coercion.

Filipino protesters demonstrate outside China’s embassy in Manila after the incident this month.Credit: Getty Images

The United States is likely to start such operations with its long-time security partner before the end of the year, a Philippine National Security Council official said this month, and Australian patrols with the Philippines are also being considered.

“We have thought carefully about how we might coordinate and cooperate with the Filipinos in relation to maritime activity. There has been a lot of thought that has gone into that,” said Marles from Malaysia, where he was meeting with his counterpart before heading to the Philippines.

“I’m sure how we work together in the maritime domain will form part of the conversations that I have with the new defence secretary.

“We need to have a region which is operating in accordance with established global rules and we are here to support that.”

A Chinese Coast Guard ship aims a water cannon at a Philippine military resupply boat near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands on August 5.Credit: Philippine Coast Guard

Albanese will be the first Australian leader in 20 years to visit the Philippines, a reflection of the growing importance of the south-east Asian archipelago in Australia’s strategic outlook.

The Labor government has also sought to stabilise fraught diplomatic and trade relations with China, and supplementing Australia’s existing freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea could anger Beijing.

Marles, however, believes Australia can walk the line of supporting the Philippines without throwing affairs with China off course.

Any bilateral patrols would not venture near Chinese-occupied land features in the waterway, a policy Australian governments have maintained to avoid provocation.

The Sierra Madre, a Second World War warship intentionally grounded by the Philippines in 1999 as a mark of its territorial claims in the South China Sea.Credit: AP

“I think as long as we are engaging very clearly and sensibly and understandably in pursuit of our national interest, that is something that every country will be able to understand including China,” Marles said.

“It’s consistent with also seeking to stabilise our relationship with China.”

Richard Heydarian, a political scientist at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, said Manila was eager for its key allies and partners to present a show of strength and unity of purpose in the face of China’s aggression.

“In light of the rising tensions over the Second Thomas Shoal, which could become the next big flashpoint in the South China Sea, the urgency for these joint patrols has dramatically escalated,” he said.

“I think the Philippines right now is really looking for any sign of support from like-minded powers but especially in this case because the United States is a treaty ally, Australia has a status of [visiting] forces agreement and Japan is also negotiating a visiting forces agreement with the Philippines as well.”

After his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s pivot towards China, Marcos has this year reinforced defence ties with the US, lifting the number of military bases its troops can access to nine. Among the four new facilities the US was granted use of was one on the island of Palawan, facing the Spratly Islands.

Australia also has long-standing security relations with the Philippines, particularly in military training, counter-terrorism and in providing resources such as vessels and drones for the Philippine Coast Guard.

More than 2000 Australian Defence Force personnel and Australian warships are involved in pre-arranged combined air, land, sea and amphibious exercises taking place in the Philippines and its waters this week.

A naval transit with Japanese vessels was also conducted as the HMAS Canberra and HMAS Anzac made their way there and there were plans for Australia, the US and Japan to stage a three-way naval drill off the Philippines on Wednesday, although it didn’t eventuate because American ships were deployed elsewhere.

However, the Australian government has so far not lived up to its rhetoric about supporting the Philippines against clear breaches of international law by Beijing, according to Euan Graham, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

“Australia should be following through on its commitments to uphold the rules-based order where it’s under direct challenge by Beijing’s bullying behaviour in the South China Sea,” he said. “The best way to do that would be a specific statement on Second Thomas Shoal, and ideally following up with joint patrols with the Philippines, US and other partners.

“Canberra’s priority is relations with China at the moment and clearly the government doesn’t want to put any obstacle in the way of stabilising that relationship.”

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