Water Wars: Philippines ‘No Fool’ about Chinese Maritime Militia, While China Keeps Pressure on Taiwan

Testing Taiwan

On March 26, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported the incursion of 20 Chinese military aircraft in Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ). This is the largest incursion yet reported by the ministry. The Chinese aircraft included four nuclear-capable H-6K bombers, 10 J-16 fighter jets, two J-10 fighter jets, two Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft, one Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft, and a KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft. In response, Taiwan’s air force scrambled jets and deployed missiles to “monitor” the intruding planes. 

Some of the Chinese planes flew over the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan and the Philippines. U.S. warships often sail through the channel when moving between the two countries, and a source close to the Taiwanese military said that this maneuver was to simulate attacking U.S. warships. 

On April 1, Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration (CGA) announced that Chinese drones had flown above the Taiwanese-controlled Pratas Islands (Chinese: Dongsha Dao). The islands lie about 400 kilometers southwest of mainland Taiwan and 300 kilometers east of Hong Kong. A subsequent CGA report to Taiwan’s legislature claimed that the unmanned aerial vehicles may be gathering information on the area. The report also stated that the number of Chinese incursions on Taiwanese airspace has increased in past months. Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang has labeled the incursions into Taiwan’s ADIZ as “unnecessary” and “thoughtless.”

The Chinese government has not commented on either the March 26 or April 1 incursion. 

Japan’s “Two Plus Two” Meetings

With growing concern about Chinese military influence in the region, Japan is strengthening key military alliances and entering new defense pacts. In March, Japanese defense and foreign ministers held “two plus two” meetings with their American and Indonesian counterparts. Both meetings involved sharp criticism of China’s “coercion and aggression” in the region. 

On March 16, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi met in Tokyo. The defense chiefs agreed to maintain close cooperation if a military conflict arises between China and Taiwan but did not discuss how the countries would coordinate, according to Japanese government sources. 

President Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga are planning to meet in person this week. In preparation for the meeting, Suga reiterated that “it is important for Japan and the United States to cooperate and use deterrence to create an environment where Taiwan and China can find a peaceful solution.”

Japanese officials also took part in a “two plus two” security talk with Indonesia’s foreign and defense ministers on March 30. The meeting resulted in the signing of a pact allowing Japan to transfer “defense equipment and technology” to Indonesia.

Showdown in the Spratlys

Tensions between China and the Philippines increased significantly in the past few weeks, as Chinese maritime militia vessels began massing at Whitsun Reef (Chinese: Niu’e Jiao; Vietnamese: Đá Ba Đầu; Philippines: Julian Felipe Reef) in the Spratly Islands (Malay: Kepulauan Spratly; Chinese: Nánshā Qúndǎo; Philippines: Kapuluan ng Kalayaan; Vietnamese: Quần đảo Trường Sa), well within the Philippines’s 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. 

Whitsun Reef is a low-tide feature (above water only at low tide) of Union Banks, a large atoll in the Spratly Islands. Both China and Vietnam already have military outposts in Union Banks: Vietnam on Grierson Reef (Chinese: Ranqing Shazhou; Philippines: Julian Felipe Reef; Vietnamese: Đảo Sinh Tồn Đông), Collins Reef (Chinese: Guihan Jiao; Philippines: Roxas Reef Vietnamese: Đá Cô Lin), Lansdowne Reef (Chinese: Qiong Jiao; Philippines: Pagkakaisa Reef; Vietnamese: Đá Len Đao) and Sin Cowe Island (Chinese: Jinghong Dao; Philippines: Rurok Island; Vietnamese: Đảo Sinh Tồn); and China on Hughes Reef (Chinese: Dongmen Jiao; Vietnamese: Đá Tư Nghĩa; Philippines: McKennan Reef) and Johnson Reef (Chinese: Chiguo Jiao; Vietnamese: Đá Gạc Ma; Philippines: Mabini Reef). AccordingBecome a supporter of IT Security News and help us remove the ads.