Antony J. Blinken. the U.S. Secretary of state warned China that an “armed” attack against Philippine vessels in the South China Sea would engage the mutual self-defense pact between Washington and Manila, resulting in the United States involvement, according to news reports.
Recently Chinese ships have rammed Philippine vessels and engaged water canons on them. During a news conference with a Philippine counterpart on how to deter what some analysts call China’s “gray-zone coercion tactics,” which Philippine officials say include aiming a high-powered laser at a Philippine Coast Guard vessel and temporarily blinding some crew members, Mr. Blinken pointed to diplomatic, not military, measures.“The very visibility of those actions, I think, has provoked from a number of other countries clear statements in support of the Philippines and against these provocative actions that are a threat to peace, security, freedom of navigation and basic rights under international law,” he said.
Jeffrey Newman is a whistleblower lawyer whose firm represents whistleblowers in healthcare fraud under the False Claims Act (FCA) also whistleblower claims brought under the SEC whistleblower program for violations of securities regulations including insider trading cases and similar claims under the Commodities Futures Trading Commission whistleblower program. He also handles cases involving evasion of US sanctions against China, Iran and Russia and other sanctioned entities and he can be reached at Jeff@JeffNewmanLaw.com or at 617-823-3217
