‘The Squad’ and allies must take stand on Shoal to thwart Beijing

Chinese coast guard personnel wield blades off the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on June 17. Picvture: Philippines Armed Forces via AFP

Countries with territory in the South China Sea have been experiencing incremental Chinese encroachment and domination for more than a decade.

In all that time, China hasn’t suffered a single reverse. The time to begin to reverse Chinese momentum is now – and the place to do so is The Philippines’ Second Thomas Shoal, currently held by the rusting hulk of the Sierra Madre, occupied by stoic and determined Philippines marines.

The Chinese are using powerful water cannons, ramming, and axes and clubs against Filipino personnel and vessels.

Beijing’s plan to take control of this chunk of Philippine territory is being executed violently and brazenly now by its militarised Chinese Coast Guard.  

It is attempting to prevent the Philippine outpost from being resupplied and repaired.

The goal is to starve out the Philippine personnel and have the rusting grounded ship become uninhabitable and fall apart. At that point, The Philippines loses de facto control of this piece of its sovereign territory and Beijing takes control. 

Canada, Japan and the US have increased joint patrols and other maritime co-operation with The Philippines to assert freedom of navigation and uphold Philippine sovereignty and international law. But they’ve left the country alone in dealing with the confrontations by China.

There needs to be a collective effort by like-minded countries, especially the US. Any action taken must physically reverse the momentum of growing Chinese control in the region and demonstrate that Chinese policy and action will fail.

Countries helping The Philippines defeat Chinese attempts to end Philippine occupation and control of the outpost on the Shoal will be upholding international law and the principle of state sovereignty. The US, Japan, Australia and The Philippines have begun working on maritime security in the face of the growing challenge of China.   They’ve started to be called “The Squad” – after that other minilateral group including India, Japan, the US and Australia – the Quad. 

The Squad nations can buy a disused offshore oil and gas exploration platform and tow it to the Second Thomas Shoal to replace the rusting Sierra Madre. Such a platform has several advantages: it would be available, durable and able to be resupplied by helicopter, not just the sea.  It would create a new physical reality where Philippine control of its territory can endure for the next 20 years, instead of watching an already decrepit Sierra Madre visibly deteriorate and fail now. 

The navies and air forces of these four nations can collectively resupply and defend the new Philippine outpost.

Instead of small Philippine inflatable boats trying to resupply the embattled marines on the shoal, the vessels and aircraft carrying out these missions can come from each of the Squad nations.  Vessels of other partner states can carry “sea riders” from other Squad members. 

In that way China faces the choice of confronting all the partners every time it considers getting out the axes, knives and water cannons, as it did last week.

A determined, public collective action such as this by key democratic partners in the Indo-Pacific is desperately needed to show that Chinese coercion and violence can fail.  

It’s time to put our actions where our values and interests are. The region is lucky Beijing has chosen the wrong place and the wrong time to advance its theft of others’ territories.  

 We can watch a rusty hulk fall apart as Chinese forces injure and kill brave Filipinos and all cheer on from the sidelines.   But a better course is on offer. Let’s act in support of their bravery and take the opportunity to reset the regional dynamics in favour of freedom.

Michael Shoebridge is the founder and director of Strategic Analysis Australia