The Economist.
Chinese coast guard ships are surrounding and ramming military boats from the Philippines.
You see Chinese officers wielding knives, metal sticks, and what looks like an axe, pointing and shouting at the Filipinos.
One Chinese officer stabs an inflatable Philippine boat with a knife.
This clash happened in June near the Second Thomas Shoal, part of the disputed Spratly Islands.
The Philippine military’s chief of staff later said that the Chinese coast guard were behaving like pirates.
We talk a lot on Drum Tower about Taiwan as a potential front line of geopolitical conflict.
But in the last year or so, there’s been a lot more action in another nearby region, the South China Sea.
The most aggressive player in this stretch of water is China.
There’s been a steady drum beat of violent clashes between China’s coast guard and vessels from neighboring countries.
One in particular, the Philippines, is trying to push back in a new way.
I’m Alice Su, the Economist’s senior China correspondent,
and this week, I’m joined by Sulin Wong, our Southeast Asia correspondent.
Earlier this year, Sulin reported a story from the Spratly Islands.
Today, she’s taking us to Pagasa, the only island with a civilian population.
The Philippines considers Pagasa its own, but China has other ideas.
This is Drum Tower from The Economist.
Sulin, hi. How are you?
Hey, Alice.
Long time no see.