Growing isolation

No country, at last count, has backed China's assertion that the West Philippine Sea is within its territory.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., during the recent handover of a Japanese radar system, disputed the intensified propaganda that the Philippines had allowed itself to be the US proxy in the regional conflict.

China claims "undisputed sovereignty" over the sea lanes where about $3.4 trillion worth of global trade passes yearly, making its nine-dash line claim of a historical boundary an international concern.

An international tribunal's 2016 decision said the claim violated the Philippines' exclusive economic zone as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China has called on US treaty ally the Philippines not to be a geopolitical pawn of Washington.

Instead, Teodoro said, nations have expressed support for the Philippines' right to the resources within its exclusive economic zone and other areas under its territorial jurisdiction.

The Defense chief countered a Chinese Foreign Ministry remark that "the recent events between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea are caused by the deliberate infringement on China's sovereignty and the provocations by the Philippines."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin had made the remark in response to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s characterization of the diplomatic relationship between the two nations as moving "in a poor direction."

Marcos had referred to rising tensions in the sea in recent weeks, including the alleged "swarming" by China's maritime militia and a round of collisions and near misses resulting from China's increasingly assertive blockades of supply missions to Ayungin Shoal where the Philippine ship BRP Sierra Madre is beached.

Despite the multinational concern about China's claim, only the Philippines has been pushing back, starting with the 2013 challenge before the arbitral court and the continuing delivery of supplies to the Sierra Madre despite blockades by Chinese vessels.

Lately, a "name and shame" policy of taking journalists aboard resupply boats and filming China's aggressive acts has proven to be a potent tactic in repulsing Chinese aggression.

Several countries, including G7 nations, called for respect for international maritime law, criticizing China's aggressive, illegal, and unsafe behavior.

The US has constantly sounded off on the Philippines being its oldest ally in Asia and that it would come to its aid under a Mutual Defense Treaty, making the defense commitment "ironclad."

An attack on an ally's assets anywhere, including the WPS, would trigger an American response in kind.

Japan, which also has a territorial dispute with China, has been seeking to shore up defense cooperation with the Philippines recently, including a proposed mutual access program.

"Japan also opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, as well as any actions that increase tensions in the South China Sea," Japanese defense official Osamu Nishiwaki said.

Other regional neighbors want China to assume more responsibility in the region, befitting an emerging superpower.

Singapore Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen has urged China to take the lead in reducing tensions, saying the world has had enough of conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas strife.

Ng stressed the importance of military-to-military communication to manage crises, expressing the hope that the United States and China would resume the use of their military hotline.

The resumption of talks between the global giants would be encouraging.

Ng appealed to China to assure other nations it was not a threat as it grew more powerful.

"Whether China accepts it or not, wants it or not, it is already seen as a dominant power and must, therefore, act as a benevolent one," he said.

It is thus China's call whether it would be regarded as a responsible leader in a world that is perilously falling into deeper trouble as a result of the pockets of conflicts or as another pariah that is a threatening presence.