The United States has renewed a warning that it would defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack after Chinese ships blocked and collided with two Filipino vessels in the South China Sea.

The United States renewed a warning Monday that it would defend the Philippines in case of an armed attack under a 1951 treaty, after Chinese ships blocked and collided with two Filipino vessels off a contested shoal in the South China Sea.

Philippine diplomats summoned a Chinese Embassy official in Manila on Monday for a strongly worded protest following Sunday’s collisions off Second Thomas Shoal. No injuries were reported but the encounters damaged a Philippine coast guard ship and a wooden-hulled supply boat operated by navy personnel, officials said.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called an emergency meeting with the defense secretary and other top military and security officials to discuss the latest hostilities in the disputed waters. The Philippines and other neighbors of China have resisted Beijing’s sweeping territorial claims over virtually the entire South China Sea, and some, like Manila, have sought U.S. military support as incidents multiply.

  • TranscendentalEmpireEnglish
    101·
    1 year ago

    This doesn’t mean that the dark parts of American neo-imperialism don’t exist and aren’t real, they do and they are, just that you can’t be all bad bully all the time and still maintain those kinds of alliance based power structures which are necessary to be a true global superpower, or to at least a large enough regional power capable of dislodging America’s role in the Pacific. The former being their long-term goal, and the latter their short to medium term objective. At this point, all of their neighbors hate them.

    This is what I try to explain to some of my tankie friends who myopically utilize Lenin’s definition of imperialism, where imperialism can only be conducted by capitalist nations.

    If the definition of imperialism you utilize completely precludes yourself from being labeled as an imperialist, despite having the same material motivation, and despite requiring the same actions and reactions…then you’re just doing imperialism and calling it another name.