Beijing has sent the Philippines, as US ally near Taiwan in the South China Sea, a stark threat that could force Washington to step in.
China warned on Wednesday that it will keep putting military pressure on the Philippines as a dispute over sovereignty in the South China Sea rages on.
The country’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly sent the threat to his Philippine counterpart Enrique A. Manalo over a phone call.
Wang warned him that “if the situation, goes its own way, or even colludes with ill-intentioned external forces to continue to stir up troubles, China will defend its rights in accordance with law and respond resolutely,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
It comes after China mobilised its coast guard and maritime militia to block Philippine supply missions to support its soldiers and fishermen.
READ MORE: China issues stark warning to US in major show of force as tensions skyrocket
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, one of the world’s most vital waterways for shipping.
The claim puts it at loggerheads with the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.
All these nations also maintain claims over islands, reefs and undersea resources in the region.
Wang reportedly accused the Philippines of having “changed its policy stance so far, reneged on the promises it has made, provoked troubles at sea, and undermined China’s legitimate and lawful rights”.
Xinhua reported Thursday: “Noting that the bilateral relationship now stands at a crossroads, with its future yet to be decided, Wang said the Philippine side must act with caution.
“Instead of continuing in the wrong direction, the Philippine side should return to the right path as soon as possible, with properly handling and managing the current maritime situation as a top priority.”
Territorial disputes have become more intense as China scrambles to cement its territorial claims in defiance of the U.S. and its allies, the Philippines.
Beijing has accused the US of encouraging the Philippines, its treaty ally, to provoke China for its own purposes, although there is no direct evidence to indicate this.
This week, China claimed it mobilised its military to track an American warship that crossed into waters by China’s hotly contested Spratly Islands nearly 700 miles away from the Chinese coast, CNN reported on Friday.
The People’s Liberation Army said in a statement: “The US deliberately disrupted the situation in the South China Sea.”
But the US Navy has argued that the ship was conducting “routine operations in international waters…consistent with international law.”
Last month, Beijing issued a strikingly similar warning when a US naval ship, crossed into the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. China said it was forced to track the USS Gabrielle Giffords as a result.
Meanwhile, tensions are soaring over another major flashpoint between China and the US over President Xi Jinping’s repeated threats to invade Taiwan.
Last year, President Biden warned American troops would defend Taiwan if it was threatened by China.
Earlier this year, Congress approved a $300 million sale of equipment to Taipei to help maintain its tactical information system and strengthen its defenses.
Taiwan started a process of democratization in the late 1980s, after years of rapid economic growth. Tsai Ing-wen, its current president, has attracted the ire of Beijing by asserting that the island is independent.
But the One China policy, which is still in place today, acknowledges that there is only one Chinese government, and Taiwan is not an independent or sovereign state.
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