Beijing is increasingly becoming a matter of polemic on unilateral claims to the South China Sea area. The International Court of Justice has ruled that Beining's claims to the South China Sea are baseless. So that Beijing's claims in the South China Sea were ruled invalid and contrary to international law of the sea.
The South China Sea conflict that continues to heat up has forced the US to intervene to help various countries that are pressured by China. One of the victims of Beijing's unilateral claims to the South China Sea is the Philippines.
“The main player in this confusion is the Philippines, an archipelago of more than 7,000 islands,” wrote 19fortyfive.com.
The Philippines says that a group of features in the Spratly Islands known as the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) is part of the country.
The struggle over the island, which is located in the South China Sea, has been going on for a long time. Even the Philippines in 1999, grounded the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II era ship, in the Second Thomas Shoal KIG.
According to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Manila said this was in response to Beijing's actions.
“Serves as a permanent installation of the Philippine Government in response to China's illegal occupation of [nearby area claims] Mischief Reef in 1995.” he added.
However, China has explicitly stated that the Spratly island area belongs to Beijing.
"China maintains that it is the rightful ruler over the shoal, and has intercepted a Philippine vessel bound for a feature suspected of transporting construction materials," explained 19fortyfive.com.
Therefore, the US fully supports the Philippines' control of the disputed island of China. US support for the Philippines is also based on the old agreement between Washington and Manila. In 1951, the two countries signed the Mutual Defense Treaty.
Where in the agreement it is stated that an armed attack against one of the Parties is considered an attack on both. To strengthen US support for the Philippines, on November 19, 2021, the US State Department issued a statement about Washington's support.
“The United States has supported our ally, the Philippines, in the face of the recent [blockage] and China. [use of] water cannon against Philippine supply vessels en route to the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.” said spokesman Ned Price.
The statement further supports the 2016 decision of the international arbitral tribunal.
“Firmly [rejects] the [People's Republic of China] claim to the Second Thomas Shoal and the waters designated as part of the Philippines' exclusive economic zone,” quote from 19fortyfive.com.
"Reaffirmed that an armed attack on a Philippine common ship in the South China Sea would result in a joint US defense commitment under Article IV of the US Philippines Joint Defense Treaty of 1951," he added.
On the other hand, the US (at least nominally) maintains a policy of 'strategic obscurity' towards Taiwan's military defense.
The US has not exercised such ambiguity regarding its obligations to Manila's defense. The message is clear that Washington will use military force against Beijing if Beijing attacks Philippine ships.
