They were part of China’s gray operations against the Philippines, according to geopolitics expert Dr. Renato de Castro. Gray zone operations, by Western definition, are measures short of war but made to look innocuous or non-confrontational. The Hague arbitral court in 2016 outlawed the farcical “nine-dash line” and China’s sea incursions. “They keep China’s sea aggression below the level of actual naval operation, and are performed hidden behind the cloak of deniability,” he says. “It lulls our people and armed forces to a false sense of security, making them oblivious to the threat to the nation by China’s maritime expansionism,” he adds.

Source: Philippine Star July 21, 2020 15:56 UTC