The seas free of a bully

That “monster ship” lingering off the coast of Zambales has left the area but according to Canada’s Dark Vessel Detection, another vessel has sailed from Guangdong province in China to take its place. Chinese Coast Guard vessel 5901 or the monster ship’s presence close to Zambales was called an act of “intimidation, coercion, and aggression” by National Security Council spokesman Jonathan Malaya. Though it was not conducting blocking or dangerous maneuvers, its presence so close to the country was exactly as Malaya called it. This is China’s way of telling the government they could go and do whatever they wanted. This is to show just how powerful their Coast Guard fleet is by showing one of their big vessels. And that isn’t even a warship.

China has been flexing its military might in the region, focusing on intimidating Taiwan. It has used both naval and air assets to intimidate the island. China bristled at US approval to sell Taiwan $2 billion worth of military equipment. The US is a strong ally of Taiwan and serves as a deterrent to Beijing’s desire to reclaim the island. We have yet to see how this relationship, including ours, plays out with the incoming Trump administration. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has guaranteed the country it will abide by the Mutual Defense Treaty and labeled its relationship with the Philippines as ironclad. We will see what the next defense secretary will have to say.

But incoming president Trump seems more focused on conquering allies than working with them. He insulted former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau by calling him a governor of the 51st state of the US, referring to Canada. He is not removing the possibility of using military force on the sovereign nations of Panama and Greenland to gain control of said countries. He wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. These seem to be the priorities of Trump as he retakes the White House on January 20th.

He is also filling up his Cabinet with known election deniers, an anti-vaccine proponent, and even racists to boot, so his foreign policy might differ greatly from that of the Biden administration. With China flexing in the South China Sea, let’s hope Trump will similarly respond. The Marcos Jr. administration would do well to modernize its military assets to face Chinese intimidation and aggression. There is no question as to Chinese military might, but at the same time the country should not be intimidated. The livelihood of many fishermen depends on having the seas free from a bully.