O Novo Império do Meio tem aspirações a ser um império global e para já comporta-se como um império regional agressivo

«The chinese ships that appeared around Whitsun Reef in March were unusual for fishing vessels. They seemed to do little fishing, for a start. Satellite images revealed them to be pristine and lined up with military precision. China said the ships were simply sheltering from bad weather. But the Philippine government said they belonged to China’s “maritime militia”, a naval auxiliary force under the command of the People’s Liberation Army. The result is the latest stand-off in the South China Sea.

In 2016 an international tribunal in The Hague rejected China’s vague and sweeping claims in the South China Sea, including to the Spratly Islands, in a complaint brought by the Philippines. But Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines’ president, has largely avoided confronting China over the issue, preferring instead to needle America, an ally but also a former colonial occupier of the Philippines.

Thus it was a surprise when Mr Duterte’s government strongly denounced the latest provocations. On March 21st Delfin Lorenzana, the defence minister, demanded that the 220 Chinese vessels in the reef’s lagoon leave “our sovereign territory”. Two weeks later he complained that China had shown “utter disregard…of international law”. The next day Teddy Locsin, the foreign minister, thundered at China’s “blatant falsehoods”. Though many of the ships have now left Whitsun Reef, they are thought to have dispersed to nearby reefs, still within the Philippines’ eez.

China has deployed a notionally civilian maritime militia since the 1970s, and Vietnam operates a similar fleet, although not as large or active. Chinese fishing boats played a big part in the Chinese seizure of disputed rocks and sandbars such as Mischief Reef in 1994 and Scarborough Shoal in 2012, notes Ryan Martinson of the us Naval War College. In late 2019 and 2020 China used both its maritime militia and its coastguard to intimidate the West Capella, a ship licensed by Malaysia to drill for oil and gas. In January China passed a law expanding the powers of its coastguard, allowing it to use force more readily.»

China tries to nick another speck in the sea from the Philippines, Economist