MKsport a group of Philippine fishing ships attempt to conduct right-infringing activities in waters around China's Houteng Jiao in the South China Sea under the pretext of fishing in November 2024. Photo: Courtesy of the China Coast Guard" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2024/2024-12-03/2a035ee4-e664-4aca-a5f2-9940cb5f612b.jpeg" />

Led by a mothership apparently carrying barrels of fresh water and fuel, a group of Philippine fishing ships attempt to conduct right-infringing activities in waters around China's Houteng Jiao in the South China Sea under the pretext of fishing in November 2024. Photo: Courtesy of the China Coast Guard

 

The inaugural US-Japan-Philippine Maritime Dialogue held in Tokyo on Tuesday aims to incite Manila to continue provocations against China in the South China Sea, expert said, as a statement released by the US state department on the dialogue attacked China's maritime behaviors and called them a threat to freedom of navigation. 

The statement distorts the facts and misleads the public, Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military expert remarked. "The so-called activities within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone actually involve China's islands and adjacent waters in the South China Sea. These actions by the Philippines are provocations aimed at occupying China's territory, violating the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. Therefore, the rhetoric used by the three countries is carefully crafted to serve their own agenda," Zhang told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

According to the US statement, in April, the leaders of the US, Japan, and the Philippines met at the White House for the first trilateral leaders' Summit, where they committed to deepening cooperation across sectors, including maritime security, to advance a shared vision for "a free and open Indo-Pacific." At the summit, the leaders announced a new trilateral maritime dialogue to enhance coordination and collective responses.

The Tuesday meeting was chaired by Ryo Nakamura, director-general of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's Southeast and Southwest Asian Affairs Department, and attended by Mira Rapp-Hooper, senior director of the US National Security Council, and Maria Theresa Lazaro, undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, according to Japan's Jiji Press Agency on Wednesday.

Zhang viewed the dialogue as essentially a move by the US and Japan in inciting the Philippines to continue provocations against China in the South China Sea. 

The meeting came after the US, Japan and the Philippines held a joint exercise within Manila's exclusive economic zone on Friday, a move which was criticized by Chinese observers as playing a destructive role for managing differences and undermining regional peace and stability.

As the US approaches the South China Sea disputes as a tool to contain China's development, using the Philippines as a pawn to challenge China's sovereignty and impede its progress. Meanwhile, Japan, eager to demonstrate loyalty to the US, supports America's so-called "Indo-Pacific strategy" and seeks to expand its military presence. By engaging in maritime exercises with the US and the Philippines, Japan extends its military reach into the South China Sea, which contravenes Japan's pacifist constitution and its exclusive defense policy, Zhang criticized.

The three countries also discussed opportunities to strengthen future trilateral cooperation and engagement with other partners through maritime cooperative activities, combined trainings, maritime law enforcement and coast guard capacity building, according to the US state department statement. 

The Philippines has demonstrated a clear motivation to enhance maritime and coast guard cooperation due to its limited maritime law enforcement capabilities. Compared to the long-term naval development, improving coast guard capacity through equipment upgrades and personnel training offers more immediate results, Ding Duo, a deputy director of the Institute of Maritime Law and Policy at China's National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

Cooperation between the US, Japan, and the Philippines, as currently outlined in the statement, largely reiterates established ideas without introducing new elements. This reflects that their stances on the South China Sea issue are driven by their broader policies toward China, Ding noted. 

The emerging trilateral mechanisms may embolden the Philippines to take further provocative actions with the perceived backing of the US and Japan, posing a risk of escalating maritime incidents and increasing tensions among law enforcement forces in the region, Ding warned.