An Analysis of the Philippine-U.S. Game on Natural Resources and Ecology Issues in the South China Sea and the Trends of Arbitration Weaponization

By: Zhihao Zheng^*

School of International Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

^*Corresponding author

Received: 2025-07-24Revised: 2025-09-04Accepted: 2025-09-07Published: 2025-09-10

J. Int. Eco. Glo. Gov. 2025, 2(6), 1-19; https://doi.org/10.58244/jiegg.250832

Funding: This work was supported by the Research Project Grant of the International Collaborative Education Demonstration Zone, Zhejiang University.

Abstract

Since the Marcos Jr. administration, the Philippines has reasserted a provocative stance in the South China Sea, deepening its coordination with the United States and extending competition into the domain of natural resources and ecology. Issues such as coral reef destruction, biodiversity loss, and fishing disputes have been securitized and employed as strategic instruments, raising the puzzle of why ecological concerns are increasingly weaponized in regional geopolitics. This study applies a qualitative case-based analysis grounded in the theoretical framework of strategic saturation and arbitration weaponization. It argues that the Philippines and the United States have resorted to ecological and resource issues for three main reasons: the saturation of traditional strategic approaches, the lack of integrated decision-making and coordination capabilities, and the demand for comfortable and feasible short-term policy tools. The analysis identifies three interrelated trends: rekindling international arbitration, expanding strategic narrative frameworks, and reshaping containment dynamics through issue linkage. The findings suggest that these dynamics will produce four critical effects: entrapment in the logical flaws of strategic narratives, the further weaponization of international arbitration, escalating strategic costs for both parties, and the lowering of the conflict threshold. The article contributes on the politicization of non-traditional security issues and the weaponization of international legal instruments, demonstrating how weaker states in alliance with external powers instrumentalize environmental issues to reshape regional order. It further highlights the risks this trajectory poses to cooperative governance, underscoring the need for solutions within the China–ASEAN framework.

Keywords: South China Sea Dispute, Natural Resources, Ecology, Arbitration Weaponization, Narrative Framework

Full Text
Download the full text PDF for viewing and using it according to the license of this paper.

References

U.S. Department of Defense. (2023, April 3). U.S. announce locations of four new EDCA sites. https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3349257/philippines-us-announce-locations-of-four-new-edca-sites/
U.S. Department of Defense. (2023, May 3). The United States and the Republic of the Philippines bilateral defense guidelines. https://media.defense.gov/2023/May/03/2003214357/-1/-1/0/THE-UNITED-STATES-AND-THE-REPUBLIC-OF-THE-PHILIPPINES-BILATERAL-DEFENSE-GUIDELINES.PDF
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. (2023, December 13). Recent surge in tensions in the South China Sea. https://www.mofa.go.jp/press/release/pressite_000001_00045.html
Indian warship docks in Manila as tension ups in South China Sea. (2023, December 14). The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/indian-warship-docks-in-manila-as-tension-ups-in-south-china-sea/articleshow/105971033.cms?from=mdr
Wyeth, G. (2023, November 27). Australia-Philippines launch joint naval patrol in South China Sea. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2023/11/australia-philippines-launch-joint-naval-patrol-in-south-china-sea/
Pulta, B. (2023, September 20). OSG explores various legal options on coral reef damage in WPS. Philippine News Agency. https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1210274
Baroña, F. J., & Tamayo, B. (2023, September 21). PH to file suit vs China. The Manila Times. https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/09/21/news/ph-to-file-suit-vs-china/1910963
de Guzman, C. (2023, September 29). Why the Philippines may take China to court—again—over the South China Sea. Time. https://time.com/6318671/philippines-south-china-sea-international-court/
Manila to pick venue soon for second South China Sea case against Beijing. (2025, January 23). The Straits Times. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/philippines-to-pick-venue-soon-for-second-south-china-sea-case-against-beijing
Sato, M., et al. (2023, December 18). Deep blue scars: Environmental threats to the South China Sea. Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, Center for Strategic and International Studies. https://features.csis.org/environmental-threats-to-the-south-china-sea/
The White House. (2022, June 27). Memorandum on combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and associated labor abuses. https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2022/06/27/memorandum-on-combating-illegal-unreported-and-unregulated-fishing-and-associated-labor-abuses/
NOAA Fisheries. (2023, August). 2023 report to Congress: Improving international fisheries management. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3/2023-08/2023RTC-ImprovingIFManagement.pdf
Strangio, S. (2024, February 20). Philippines to probe claims of Chinese cyanide use at Scarborough Shoal. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2024/02/philippines-to-probe-claims-of-chinese-cyanide-use-at-scarborough-shoal/
Presidential Communications Office. (2024, February 20). PBBM to file charges fishermen behind cyanide fishing in Bajo de Masinloc. https://pco.gov.ph/news_releases/pbbm-to-file-charges-if-found-legal-basis-vs-chinese-fishermen-behind-cyanide-fishing-in-bajo-de-masinloc/
Vietnam ramps up Spratly Island dredging. (2023, November 15). Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. https://amti.csis.org/vietnam-ramps-up-spratly-island-dredging/
Alcala, A. C., & Russ, G. R. (2002). Status of Philippine coral reef fisheries. Asian Fisheries Science, 15(2), 177–192. https://doi.org/10.33997/j.afs.2002.15.2.009
Heydarian, R. J. (2019, November 21). Vietnam's legal warfare against China: Prospects and challenges. Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative. https://amti.csis.org/vietnams-legal-warfare-against-china-prospects-and-challenges/
Goldenziel, J. I. (2021). Law as a battlefield: The U.S., China, and the global escalation of lawfare. Cornell Law Review, 106(5), 1085–1172.
TrendEconomy. (n.d.). Where does Philippines export fish fillets and other fish meat? https://trendeconomy.com/data/h2/Philippines/0304
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (n.d.). International trade in coral and coral reef species: The role of the United States [Report of the Trade Subgroup of the International Working Group to the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force]. https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/49965/noaa_49965_DS1.pdf
World Wildlife Fund. (2012, November). Review of trade in ornamental coral, coral products and reef associated species to the United States. https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/files/Publication/file/9u300hn17s_WWF_Coral_Trade_Report_Final.pdf
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China. (2019, January 20). Circular of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the People's Republic of China on the issuance of the Action Plan for the Conservation of Sea Turtles (2019–2033). http://www.moa.gov.cn/nybgb/2019/201901/201905/t20190503_6288226.htm
Bohorquez, J. J., Xue, G., Frankstone, T., Grima, M. M., Kleinhaus, K., Zhao, Y., & Pikitch, E. K. (2021). China's little-known efforts to protect its marine ecosystems safeguard some habitats but omit others. Science Advances, 7(46), Article eabj1569. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abj1569
Shidore, S. (2023, December 22). The China-Philippines South China Sea face-off requires restraint. The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2023/12/the-china-philippines-south-china-sea-face-off-requires-restraint/
Jervis, R. (2017). The logic of images in international relations. Central Compilation & Translation Press.
Schelling, T. C. (2017). Arms and influence. Shanghai People's Press.