Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The US' decision to bolster the Philippines' coast guard strength with the announcement of a funding of $8 million following a bilateral military dialogue is intended to encourage Manila to continue its unwise and unnecessary frictions with China in the South China Sea, Chinese experts said on Tuesday, noting that the money is far from enough to equip a modern coast guard fleet, but maybe is enough to meet the demands of decisionmakers of Manila to keep serving US strategy to contain China. 

According to a statement released by the US Embassy in the Philippines on Monday, the Philippines and the US held their third Maritime Dialogue in Manila. First held in 2022, the Maritime Dialogue serves as a platform to "improve maritime policy and operational coordination" between the two countries.

During the Maritime Dialogue, the US Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement announced $8 million in new funding for the modernization of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). "This funding will support the PCG's infrastructure enhancements, training program development, and resource acquisition and management planning," said the US embassy's statement.

At the dialogue, the two sides "reviewed ongoing cooperative efforts and discussed ways for the two sides to jointly address current challenges and shared maritime concerns, particularly in the South China Sea," the statement said.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the US' funding could instigate more frictions in the South China Sea. "The Philippines has never been able to gain any advantage during the frictions it provoked in recent years [in the South China Sea], mainly because the PCG lacks sufficient capability to provoke and challenge China's sovereignty in the region again and again, this is why the US needs to fund the PCG," Song said.

However, the PCG will not receive the most advanced vessels and weapons from the US, and a few million dollars are far from enough to equip a modern coast guard fleet that is able to repeatedly provoke frictions with China's modern and powerful law-enforcement forces in the region, Song said. "Maybe the money is enough to meet the demand of decisionmakers of Manila to keep serving US strategy to contain China."

The feasible way out for the Philippines is not to weaponize itself and allow itself to be used by the US to engage in unwise and unnecessary frictions and even conflicts with China, but to stop provocations in the region and solve the issue with China in diplomatic approach, said the expert.