In a tense confrontation at Scarborough Shoal, Filipino captain Joely Saligan said the Chinese coast guard ordered him to dump his catch. He shouted back, according to the Associated Press, “this is Philippine territory. Go away.” The crew left, shaken but unhurt. It was January 12, 2024, inside waters an international tribunal says China has no right to control.
Fast-forward to this week. As President Donald Trump revives his push to take control of Greenland, China is wagging its finger. Beijing’s Foreign Ministry told Washington it “shouldn’t use other countries as a ‘pretext’ to pursue its interests in Greenland,” casting China’s own Arctic activity as lawful and benign. Elsewhere, it is not so benign. From reefs in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone to a map that colored in a slice of Russian borderlands, and even on the moon, Beijing is no stranger to the kind of behavior it now deplores.
