New accord establishes a hotline Chinese and Philippine presidents can use to stop clashes at sea

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A recently signed agreement will open a direct line of communication between China and the Philippines’ presidential offices to try and prevent any new confrontation from spiraling out of control in the disputed South China Sea, according to highlights of the accord seen by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

China and the Philippines have forged such emergency telephone hotlines at lower levels of their bureaucracies in the past to better manage their disputes, particularly in two fiercely disputed shoals where the Philippines has accused Chinese forces of increasingly hostile actions and China says Philippine ships have encroached despite repeated warnings.

The territorial faceoffs, however, have persisted uncontrollably in the past year, sparking fears of a larger armed conflict that could involve the United States, which has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, a key Asian treaty ally, if Filipino forces come under an armed attack in the disputed waters.

In a confrontation between Chinese and Philippine forces at the Philippines-occupied Second Thomas Shoal in August 2023, the Philippine government said it was unable to reach Chinese officials through an established “maritime communication mechanism” for several hours as the clash happened. That emergency telephone hotline was arranged after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in January 2023.

Chinese and Philippine officials dealing with the territorial disputes held crucial talks in Manila on July 2, following a violent confrontation in the Second Thomas Shoal in which Chinese coast guard personnel reportedly wielded knives, an axe and improvised spears in a chaotic faceoff that injured Philippine navy personnel and damaged two of their motorboats. The Chinese forces also seized seven Philippine navy rifles, said the Philippine military chief, who demanded China return the firearms and pay for the damages.

Both sides “recognized the need to strengthen the bilateral maritime communication mechanism on the South China Sea” and signed an arrangement “on improving Philippines-China maritime communication