{"id":10724,"date":"2023-10-27T01:50:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T01:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/27\/gop-senators-urge-biden-to-crack-down-on-chinas-maritime-militia-after-incidents-with-philippines-coast-guard\/"},"modified":"2023-10-27T01:50:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T01:50:53","slug":"gop-senators-urge-biden-to-crack-down-on-chinas-maritime-militia-after-incidents-with-philippines-coast-guard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2023\/10\/27\/gop-senators-urge-biden-to-crack-down-on-chinas-maritime-militia-after-incidents-with-philippines-coast-guard\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP senators urge Biden to crack down on China\u2019s maritime militia after incidents with Philippines coast guard"},"content":{"rendered":"

FIRST ON FOX:<\/strong> GOP Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, are expected to send a letter urging the Biden administration to increase support for the Philippines following repeated aggressive incidents from Chinese maritime assets in the South China Sea. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The senators detailed a series of incidents beginning in August involving the People\u2019s Republic Coast Guard and maritime militia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These actions were aimed at disrupting the Philippines\u2019 efforts to resupply the BRP Sierra Madre, a 542-class tank landing ship stranded on a nearby reef and crewed by Filipino sailors, the letter stated.\u00a0<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Coast Guard and maritime militia resorted to tactics such as deploying water cannons and issuing threats to intercept supply vessels, all in a bid to hinder the replenishment of the stranded vessel.<\/p>\n

\u2018China is on the verge of willfully triggering a humanitarian crisis by blocking the resupply of the BRP Sierra Madre. Its actions will eventually starve Filipino sailors on the vessel. China\u2019s main purpose, of course, is to force the Philippines to abandon Second Thomas Shoal and take de facto control of this territorial feature,\u2019 the senators wrote. \u2018Doing so would expand further its unlawful maritime claims \u2013 just as Beijing did with Scarborough Shoal over a decade ago. Each new claim of maritime sovereignty gives China another platform to hold allied territory (and U.S. military assets) at greater risk.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

The senators urged President Biden to provide a comprehensive overview of strategies to bolster the Philippine mission concerning the Sierra Madre. The senators contended that a failure to take such steps would potentially embolden further adverse actions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Your administration has repeatedly stated that an attack on Philippine public vessels, aircraft and armed forces \u2013 including those of its Coast Guard in the South China Sea \u2013 would invoke the U.S. mutual defense commitments\u2026 China\u2019s actions are testing the credibility and value of these commitments, and we must respond with strength,\u2019 the senators wrote.<\/p>\n

The administration said Monday it would defend the Philippines against potential threats under a decades-old treaty after Chinese ships blocked and collided with two Filipino vessels in the South China Sea.<\/p>\n

The U.S. and other allies expressed alarm over the Chinese action off Second Thomas Shoal, and Washington specifically renewed a warning that it is obligated to defend the Philippines under a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty if Filipino armed forces, ships or aircraft come under an armed attack, including \u2018those of its coast guard \u2013 anywhere in the South China Sea.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018The United States stands with our Philippine allies in the face of the People\u2019s Republic of China coast guard and maritime militia\u2019s dangerous and unlawful actions obstructing an Oct. 22 Philippine resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal,\u2019 the State Department said in a statement issued by its embassy in Manila.<\/p>\n

In May, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Philippine Secretary of the Department of National Defense Carlito Galvez established the \u2018Bilateral Defense Guidelines\u2019 and reaffirmed that \u2018an armed attack in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea, on either of their public vessels, aircraft, or armed forces \u2013 which includes their Coast Guards \u2013 would invoke mutual defense commitments under Articles IV and V of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty,\u2019 the State Department said.<\/p>\n

Washington has deployed forces to the disputed sea to patrol the waters and promote freedom of navigation. The move has angered Beijing, which has warned the U.S. to stop meddling.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, about five Chinese coast guard ships, eight accompanying vessels and two navy ships formed a blockade to prevent two Philippine coast guard ships and two boats from delivering food and other supplies to Filipino forces stationed at Second Thomas Shoal aboard a marooned navy ship, Philippine Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela said.<\/p>\n

Fox News\u2019 Lawrence Richard and The Associated Press contributed to this report.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FIRST ON FOX: GOP Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, are expected to send a letter urging the Biden administration to increase support for the Philippines following repeated aggressive incidents from Chinese maritime assets in the South China Sea. \u00a0 The senators detailed a series of incidents beginning in August <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10724","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}