The Philippine government has adopted a cautious approach to recent aggressive Chinese coast guard actions in the South China Sea, and the Biden administration filed formal diplomatic protests with Beijing of the incident, a senior State Department official said on Monday.
Kurt Campbell, deputy secretary of state and the Biden administration’s senior policymaker on China, also said Beijing does not fully support the warming alliance between Russia and North Korea that followed last week’s visit to Pyongyang by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Campbell said a number of steps were taken to strengthen security cooperation between the United States and the Philippines. But he declined to be more specific during remarks to the Council of Foreign Relations at the kickoff event for the group’s new China Strategy Initiative.
“We’ve also significantly demarched the Chinese interlocutors,” he said. A demarche is a formal diplomatic protest note.
In the latest clash over sovereignty claims in the strategic South China Sea, several Chinese coast guard vessels stopped and boarded a number of Philippine boats that were seeking to resupply a marine detachment aboard a grounded Philippine naval ship at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea. Manila claims control of the grounded ship as part of its territory.
The Chinese personnel seized weapons and smashed equipment on the boats, according to video made public by the Manila government.
The incident was viewed as one of the most aggressive by the Chinese that in recent months has stepped up efforts to block resupply efforts to the Sierra Madre, the grounded ship.
Mr. Campbell was asked when the United States would invoke the mutual defense treaty with the Philippines and said senior U.S. officials have outlined red lines that would trigger U.S. intervention under the defense pact.
“We’ve had close consultations with the Philippines about those circumstances,” he said.
Military commanders have said the treaty would be invoked if there is loss of life in a future incident.
China so far has taken action that included ramming supply boats and using water cannons and last week boarded at least one Philippine vessel.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the Chinese action but said Manila was still hoping to resolve the dispute diplomatically.
“I do think it’s important to say … that the Philippines are very cautious at this juncture,” Mr. Campbell said. “They do not see a crisis with China. They are seeking dialogue. They’re seeking discussion, and they want the United States to be purposeful with other allies and partners about our goals to maintain peace and stability and to send a very clear message of deterrence and reassurance.”
Mr. Campbell said the United States has “sent a clear and unambiguous message of our determination to stand by our Philippine friends.”
Earlier, the commander of the Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Sam Paparo, said the U.S. military is ready to support Philippine supply missions but that no requests have been made so far.
Mr. Campbell said ties between Washington and Manila have experienced “a renaissance,” with dramatically increased diplomatic and military relations in recent months. The Chinese appear to be testing both the Philippines and the United States through the activities near Second Thomas Shoal, he said.
“The most important thing in this time frame is to be resolute to be very clear, publicly, in our support for the Philippines to draw very clear, public and private lines of what we believe is essential for the maintenance of peace and stability, and then follow through on that,” Mr. Campbell said.
The State Department is working with more than a dozen regional states on maintaining peace and stability in the region in the face of mounting Chinese aggression in the region, he said. Many other East Asian states have similar clashing sovereignty claims with China over parts of the vast sea.
Russia and North Korea
On another issue, Mr. Campbell said the new pact between Russia and North Korea announced last week represents a “dramatic step up” in bilateral ties, he said.
North Korea has provided Russia with large amounts of 155-millimeter artillery shells and some long-range missiles and other capabilities that were detected going to Russia on trains and ships, he said. The State Department is concerned that Russia, in exchange for the weaponry, could supply nuclear weapons and long-range missile goods to North Korea, he said.
Mr. Campbell said he spoke with South Korean officials Sunday night about what next steps the United States will take to “step up deterrence more clearly” against North Korea, while noting Chinese officials have watched Mr. Putin’s moves toward Pyongyang with unease.
“I think it is fair to say that China is somewhat anxious about what’s going on between Russia and North Korea,” he said.
Mr. Campbell said some discussions with Chinese officials revealed “some tension” over the increased Russia-North Korea ties.
Even though Russia and China work very closely together in Ukraine as part of a strategic partnership, “it is undeniably a defining feature in global politics today that there are tensions,” he said. “There are tensions in the Arctic, there are tensions in [Central Asian states once part of the Soviet Union] — the countries that have traditionally been closer to Russia, but increasingly, economically commercially attracted to China, and now we’re seeing them on North Korea,” Mr. Campbell said.
Additionally, Beijing is “probably worried” North Korea will conduct provocative actions that would set off a crisis in Northeast Asia, he said noting that U.S. intelligence is closely monitoring the region. Recent movements by North Koreans across the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas included brief exchanges of fire, and North Korea also has increased the use of provocative language, he said.
North Korea appears to be “basically redefining their role in global politics,” Mr. Campbell said, noting Pyongyang’s “recurring pattern of absolute clear determination to avoid diplomacy with the United States, Japan or South Korea on any terms.”
Countering disinformation
In countering Chinese aggression, Mr. Campbell said the U.S. and its allies in Asia and Europe are taking active steps to counter Chinese disinformation efforts.
“I think if you asked me what is the thing that concerns me the most, it is the effectiveness of disinformation in a variety of places,” Mr. Campbell said. “It is not just the case that we face it in Europe and Ukraine, we face it globally, and those narratives are dangerous, penetrating and difficult to counter.”
Asked what could be done to separate China from Russia, Mr. Campbell said Chinese President Xi Jinping has made close ties a national project, especially as relations for both countries with the U.S. have deteriorated. Mr. Xi met Russian Mr. Putin more than 50 times for hundreds of hours of talks and enormous numbers of China-Russia exchanges.
In both China and Russia, there are some officials that are ambivalent about the close ties, but they have not had any impact on the relations, he said.
The so-called “no limits” pact between Beijing and Moscow combines elements of 1950s communist ideology along with 1930s territorial ambitions, Mr. Campbell said. “And it’s quite daunting in its breadth and ambition,” he added.
Senior officials in both nations focus often on U.S. efforts to try and split the alliance.
Mr. Campbell said his view is that the China-Russia relationship is facing enormous challenges despite the strength of current relations.
“Maybe not now, it is definitely aligned by a deep sense of antagonism towards Western interference, American perfidy, a belief that we are involved in efforts at sustained regime change globally,” he said. “I think there will likely in the future be a resurgence of tension between Moscow and Beijing, but it’s impossible to predict what that situation looks like in decades.”
A major worry is that Russia will provide China with military technology that it withheld in the past, such as submarine technology, he said.
Asked about China’s 300,000 students in the United States and whether they pose a threat to sensitive American technology, Mr. Campbell said many universities and research institutes have tightened security.
“Frankly, I’d like to see more American students studying in China to learn more about its culture, its politics and so,” he said.
The deputy secretary also said he would like to see more Chinese students in the United States studying the humanities and social sciences instead of particle physics.
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.