Activist cites US interests in SCS

THE UNITED States’ commitment to uphold maritime order over the South China Sea (SCS) is driven by its interest to maintain strategic dominance against Beijing, a maritime interests advocate said at a forum on Wednesday.

Antonio L. Tinio, spokesman of Pilipinong Nagkakaisa para sa Soberanya, said the shift in US policy to counter Beijing’s assertion over South China Sea is based on its need to “out-compete the PRC (People’s Republic of China) in technological, economic, political, military, and global governance aspects.”

Started by Washington in 2022, the Indo-Pacific strategy is geared towards increasing its diplomatic, economic, and military connections over countries in the region, which is home to one-half of the world’s people and contributes nearly two-thirds of the world’s economy, according to a US commerce department statement. 

The South China Sea is a conduit for global commerce as more than $3 trillion worth of trade passes through it annually.

Only China has the current capability to shift the balance of powers in Southeast Asia, displacing the United States of its long-held dominance in the region, Mr. Tinio said.

“The containment, military build-up, and blockage against China (in the disputed waters) is based on its interest to maintain its dominance in the region,” Mr. Tinio said.

The region includes Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and the Philippines, among others.

“The intent of the Indo-Pacific is part of its containment strategy,” Mr. Tinio said. “For me, the Indo-Pacific adopted by the US is no different from the nine-dash line of China.”

The nine-dash line is a mapping of its claim over South China Sea based on its interests, which is no different in the strategy of the US to strengthen its geopolitical and military dominance in the region, he said.

The US is also interested in asserting its freedom to navigate in South China Sea so that it could display its naval and military might near Taiwan, which is host to advanced semiconductor facilities.

“In order for the US to maintain its economic and technological superiority against China, they must deny them the most advanced semiconductors,” Mr. Tinio said.

Speaking on how the Philippines could assert its sovereignty and territorial integrity in South China Sea, Mr. Tinio said: “We need help, yes. However, we shouldn’t be used by other countries in order to advance the imperialist interest of the US.”

The government needs to “just do it” in asserting its claim over its exclusive economic zone.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 affirmed Manila’s claims over its exclusive economic zone.

He said the Philippines does not need the US to protect its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“How about our neighboring countries that don’t host US military bases and don’t have a defense treaty with them? They develop their own (naval) capacity to defend their exclusive economic zone,” Mr. Tinio said in Filipino. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio