China attacks on Philippine boats are to provoke US, prep for Taiwan war, experts warn

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TAIWAN – China is inching closer to acts of war in the seas near the Philippines, according to experts, who say Beijing's amplified hostile moves may soon cross red lines that could force the treaty-bound United States to intervene and defend the Asian nation.

"The Chinese are intentionally taunting the Philippines… which Beijing needs to justify an escalation," Andrew J. Masigan, a Philippine Star columnist and special consultant to the Middle East Media Research Institute's (MEMRI) Chinese Media Studies project, told Fox News Digital. "Every time the Philippines makes a move, China escalates… for instance, when the Philippines adds two Coast Guard vessels, the Chinese will add six." But Masigan says his nation will not "fall into this Chinese trap," and will continue to follow international law while working to strengthen the U.S.-Australia-Philippines-Japan alliance and increase cooperation with Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia.

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) claims roughly 90% of the South China Sea, with Philippines Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. telling the media that China is converting the region into the "Lake of China."

A TIMELINE OF CLASHES BETWEEN CHINA AND THE PHILIPPINES IN SOUTH CHINA SEA, FOLLOWING LATEST SHIP COLLISION

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently spelled out what Chinese control of these waterways would mean,