Philippines’ South China Sea ‘name and shame’ strategy limits China’s ‘grey-zone’ coercion

Philippines’ South China Sea ‘name and shame’ strategy limits  China’s ‘grey-zone’ coercion

    With ‘assertive transparency’, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s administration has shown the limits of China’s ‘grey-zone’ coercion. 

    Tensions are high but there have been no economic reprisals, yet – possibly offering a strategy for other Southeast Asian claimant states to emulate.

The Philippines has stood out in recent months as an emerging example of how a smaller, weaker country can stand up to a larger, stronger one in the South China Sea.

Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s administration has projected new-found assertiveness not seen in the aftermath of the 2012 Scarborough Shoal incident. The Philippines has started to speak out against Chinese transgressions in its exclusive economic zone; bolstered its long-standing alliance with the United States; cultivated closer security partnerships with friendly players outside the South China Sea such as Australia, India and Japan; and has been pushing ahead with a reorientation of its defence posture from internal to external.