US Senators Urge Biden for Action in South China Sea Standoff

In a determined plea, two senior Republican U.S. senators have called on President Joe Biden to furnish a complete array of options devised by the Pentagon and State Department to assist the Philippines in its escalating standoffs with Beijing. These flare-ups are centered around the contested Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

The crux of the tension is the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippines has stationed a deteriorating warship, maintained by a small crew since 1999 to assert its maritime claims. Manila has regularly sent supply missions to this outpost. The past year has seen these tensions boil over into violence, including an incident where a Filipino sailor lost a finger, attributed to an “intentional-high speed ramming” by a Chinese coast guard vessel.

The United States, bound by a long-standing defense treaty, is obligated to defend the Philippines against armed attacks in the region. Senators Roger Wicker and Jim Risch emphasized in a letter that the U.S. must respond with substantial support to uphold mutual defense commitments, underscoring that limited verbal assurances undermine the credibility of the treaty. The Philippines has not directly sought U.S. assistance in troop resupply missions, although America provides some intelligence support.

(With inputs from agencies.)