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South China Sea
ChinaDiplomacy

South China Sea: poor diplomacy and deep mistrust could escalate into crisis, expert warns

Region is in ‘stable tension’, analyst tells Boao Forum. ‘We already have so many actors in the region … It’s so crowded, this place’

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Analyst Lucio Pitlo says the situation in the South China Sea, particularly in light of China-Philippines clashes, is becoming “untenable”. Photo: AFP
Dewey Simin Beijing
A combination of poor diplomacy and deep mistrust among South China Sea claimant states could escalate tensions into a “crisis”, an expert has warned while urging more measures to protect “aggrieved” countries.

Lucio Pitlo, a research fellow at the Manila-based Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation think tank, told a conference in China on Friday there was a consensus that the situation in the disputed waters had become “increasingly untenable”.

“The risk is increasing,” he said, describing a “disturbing” spate of sea and air incidents, particularly between China and the Philippines.

Pitlo, who was speaking at a conference on the South China Sea held on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia in China’s southern Hainan province, said “poor diplomacy and a high trust deficit run the risk of mishandling accidents, which can turn them into [a] crisis”.

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Chinese military helicopter and Philippine patrol plane in close encounter over Scarborough Shoal

Chinese military helicopter and Philippine patrol plane in close encounter over Scarborough Shoal

The conference was organised by Chinese institutions, including the National Institute for South China Sea Studies and the China Oceanic Development Foundation.

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