COMMENT I Troubled waters over South China Sea

COMMENT | There is a red line drawn in the South China Sea: cross it and war breaks out. The Philippines delivered this stern warning to China as tension keeps rising over competing territorial claims in this vast waterway 

The “red line” is Manila’s way of saying that if its citizens are killed by a “wilful act” of China in any encounter on the high seas, then it would constitute an “act of war”.

Of course, the Philippines will not go to war with mighty China in a one-to-one encounter. Big Brother America will do all the fighting because of the defence pact that binds the two countries.

Backed by the US, the Philippines has adopted a more belligerent stance and is pushing China to the extreme.