South China Sea: Philippines’ Marcos Jnr warns risk of armed conflict ‘is much higher now than before’

In the latest incident on Tuesday, Manila said China’s coastguard vessels caused two collisions with Philippine boats and water cannoned one of them during a resupply mission near Second Thomas Shoal.

China said it “took control measures” against Philippine ships’ “illegal intrusion” into its waters.

During his meeting with Xi in Beijing in January last year, Marcos Jnr said he had proposed “a kind of hotline between us, so that if there is a message that needs to be sent from one president to another, we can be assured that that message will reach them”.

When asked if the plan had materialised, he said: “Not yet, I’m afraid.”

Marcos Jnr added the slow progress on the hotline would not deter the country from protecting its sovereignty, which should not be construed as countering the military power of any country, The Manila Times reported.

“Our sovereignty is sacred. We will not compromise it in any way,” he said.

Marcos Jnr also ruled out triggering the US-Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty over Tuesday’s incident, saying it was neither the time nor reason to invoke the pact.

The 1951 accord obliges Washington to come to Manila’s defence in the event of an armed attack.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entirety of the South China Sea – where the Philippines and several other Southeast Asian nations have competing claims – and has rejected a 2016 international decision that ruled in favour of Manila and found China’s assertions have no legal basis.