Washington may turn rhetoric into action in defense of the Philippines against Communist Chinese claims to the South China Sea.

America’s top commander in the Indo-Pacific, Admiral Samuel Paparo, hinted at taking the standoff to the next level when he told Philippine commanders that American warships may accompany beleaguered Philippine vessels though those troubled waters in a direct challenge to the Chinese navy and coast guard.

Admiral Paparo dropped that idea at a security conference at Manila after seeing the Philippines’ president, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, as the Chinese were escalating their campaign of bullying and intimidation against Philippine vessels.

In what appeared as a carefully calculated warning to the Chinese, Admiral Paparo cited the longstanding American-Philippine mutual defense treaty as the basis for considering the idea, much talked about privately but never publicized. 

American and Philippine officials believe the American navy has the right, at the request of the Philippines, to escort vessels on resupply missions to tiny Philippine outposts in the sea. They could also escort fishing boats blocked by the Chinese from shoals where Filipinos have been fishing for centuries. 

It would then be up to the Chinese to consider whether they wanted to risk an armed clash with the Americans in defense of their claim to what they see as an extension of Chinese territory. 

Although Admiral Paparo’s remarks appeared almost off-hand, in the context of a news conference with the Philippines top military commander, General Romeo Brawner Jr., they were clearly designed to add substance to the latest State Department protest against Chinese bullying.

Most recently, the State Department condemned “the dangerous actions by the People’s Republic of China against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea.” 

It accused the Chinese most recently of having “employed reckless maneuvers, deliberately colliding with two Philippine Coast Guard ships, causing structural damage and jeopardizing the safety of the crew onboard.”

The Philippine website Rappler quoted the defense minister, Gilberto Teodoro, as saying, “We have to be ready to anticipate and to get used to these kinds of acts of China.” The Chinese, said the Philippine command, had deployed three navy ships among 40 vessels blocking a Philippine supply mission from taking vital supplies to fishermen at the Sabina shoal about 75 miles west of Palawan Island in the southwestern Philippines.

The American and Philippine response, both diplomatic and military, bore the appearance of a one-two punch. In what may not have been coincidental, the White House national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, showed up in Beijing on his first visit during the Biden administration.

The atmosphere, in public, was totally cordial. Mr. Sullivan, meeting China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said that President Biden had made clear he was “committed to managing this important relationship responsibly.”

The topic of tensions in the South China Sea, however, seemed unavoidable — and non-negotiable. The Chinese Coast Guard, said China’s party organ, Global Times, “took legitimate, professional and restrained restrictive measures on Philippine Coast Guard ships when they consecutively intruded into waters adjacent to two Chinese reefs in the South China Sea.” 

The paper quoted “experts” who denounced the Philippines’ “dangerous moves of brinkmanship.”