‘Miscalculation’ risk rising

China challenging US at Sea

MANILA, Philippines, Feb 19, (AP): The risks of a “miscalculation” and armed conflict have risen in the disputed South China Sea with a militarily stronger China now able to challenge the United States, which used to be the dominant power in the strategic waterway, the Philippine envoy to Beijing said Monday.

Ambassador Chito Sta. Romana said the balance of power was shifting with the two global powers vying for control of the waters, adding the Philippines should not get entangled in the increasingly tense maritime rivalry.

China claims virtually the entire South China Sea, where the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims, and it has built seven mostly submerged reefs into islands that reportedly could be used as forward air naval bases and have been installed with a missile defense system.

The US Navy has sailed warships on “freedom of navigation” operations near the artificial islands, actions China has protested as US intervention in an Asian conflict.

“Whereas before the South China Sea was dominated by the US 7th Fleet, now the Chinese navy is starting to challenge the dominance,” Sto. Romana told a news forum in Manila. “I think we will see a shift in the balance of power.”

“It is not the case, that the South China Sea is now a Chinese lake, not at all,” Sto. Romana said. “Look at the US aircraft carrier, it’s still going through the South China Sea,” he added, referring to the US Carl Vinson that recently patrolled the disputed waters and is currently on a visit to the Philippines.

He compared the two powers to elephants fighting and trampling on the grass and said: “What we don’t want is for us to be the grass.”

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s policy of befriending China has worked, Sto. Romana said, citing Beijing’s decision to lift its blockade around the Philippine-occupied Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippine military could now freely send new supplies to Filipino marines guarding the disputed area.

China has also allowed Filipino fishermen into another disputed area, the Scarborough Shoal, after Duterte visited Beijing and raised the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi reportedly told Duterte: “Give me a few days, I’ll take care of this,” Sto. Romana quoted Duterte as saying about the meeting with his Chinese counterpart a few months after he won the Philippine presidency in 2016.