BEIJING — Ramming boats, building militarized islands and threatening perceived trespassers — China is escalating confrontations with the Philippines in a bid to push it out of the South China Sea, analysts say.
One of the most perilous flashpoints between the two nations is a submerged reef called the Second Thomas Shoal, where in 1999 the Philippine Navy intentionally marooned a decrepit World War II ship to assert the country's territorial claims.Still home to a small garrison of Filipino marines, the crumbling BRP Sierra Madre sits around 200 kilometers from the western Philippine island of Palawan and over 1,000 kilometers from China 's nearest major landmass.
Duan Dang, a Vietnam-based maritime security analyst, said Beijing was employing a 'salami-slicing strategy.'That includes boosting 'military, coast guard and militia vessels at uninhabited features in the Spratly Islands,' where the Second Thomas Shoal is located.The broader aim is to push eastwards toward the neighboring Sabina Shoal, encroaching on Manila's exclusive economic zone and 'gradually its presence and control,' he said.
Wants PH Out Of South China Sea Analysts
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