Chinese ships have repeatedly rammed Philippine ships in the South China Sea. The U.S. has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, which could lead to American intervention.

An escalating series of clashes in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China could draw the U.S., which has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, into the conflict.

A 60 Minutes crew got a close look at the tense situation when traveling on a Philippine Coast Guard ship that was rammed by the Chinese Coast Guard.

China has repeatedly rammed Philippine ships and blasted them with water cannons over the last two years. There are ongoing conversations between Washington and Manila about which scenarios would trigger U.S. involvement, Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro said in an interview.

“I really don’t know the end state,” Teodoro said. “All I know is that we cannot let them get away with what they’re doing.”

China as “the proverbial schoolyard bully”

China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, through which more than $3 trillion in goods flow annually. But in 2016, an international tribunal at the Hague ruled the Philippines has exclusive economic rights in a 200-mile zone that includes the area where the ship with the 60 Minutes team on board got rammed.

China does not recognize the international tribunal’s ruling.

  • finleyEnglish
    34•2 months ago

    That’s how at least 2 sci-fi franchises begin. And it’s bad.

      • finleyEnglish
        35•2 months ago
        • Star Trek - it’s a bit fuzzy, but the Eugenics Wars start around now-ish which lead into WWIII. So far, everything is happening more-or-less how the show predicted decades ago, with few discrepancies. It’s really creepy how accurate it all turned out to be. And while we all end up in socialist space utopia, it takes humanity about 130 more years to get there after a horrific nuclear holocaust and nearly a century of rebuilding after that. Also, all major governments destroyed and 600 million dead. It’s a big price to pay to turn the page on human history.
        • Fallout - like the above, but worse. In the year 2077, after decades of escalating tensions between the US and China, a nuclear war erupts, devastating the surface of the earth. Even centuries later, humans struggle to rebuild and survive.
        • @DaMonsterKnees@lemmy.world
          24•2 months ago

          Only because I’m way too into the original lore, the war, iirc was started over a similar situation to what drew Japan into ww2. Oil resources were diminishing, China had far less available, and the US was happy to deny them theirs, so in 2066, they invaded Alaska. 11 years later, hasta lasagna.

          • finleyEnglish
            19•2 months ago

            Impressive. That’s correct.

            And the Star Trek lore vs reality also isn’t exactly spot-on, but it’s close enough to be freaky.

            And, one could argue, we’re also on-path for the future of The Expanse series, just due to our ongoing ecological disasters.

            • @DaMonsterKnees@lemmy.world
              4•2 months ago

              Massive source of frustration there. The last 3 books of that series were fucking epic and they uber glassed over them in the show. I mean, it’s not that I don’t appreciate the inherent difficulties, but Laconia could have been the next Caesars legion as far as modern canon is concerned. One lemmings opinion.

              • finleyEnglish
                2•2 months ago

                As someone who only saw the series, it was obvious how condensed and rushed the final season was. I felt disappointed and wanted a lot more.

                • @DaMonsterKnees@lemmy.world
                  2•2 months ago

                  Yeah, man. Duarte alone was as interesting and full of potential as a character as Bobby. Also, you get a shitload of time with zombie Amos, in full churn glory. I mean, I don’t wanna like spoil it for you because the audiobooks are great if you’re not a reader, but the entire story and everything in the series revolves around the creation of Laconia by the Martians. Laconia’s whole arc is S-tier space opera shit that would have put bezosbucks to good use, but I digress.

                  • finleyEnglish
                    1•2 months ago

                    That’s the thing— I want to read the books just to get the full experience, but I don’t want to end up blue-balled on the story/plot again.

                    It sounds like it ends up that way no matter what.

          • finleyEnglish
            8•2 months ago

            Oh, now, never doubt the Irish. We’ve still got a few months left.