“There’s a natural reaction [for China to be unhappy]. But I think that’s the only way ... we cannot do this alone. Australia cannot do this alone. They had a problem before with Solomon Islands,” he said.

“Australia has a bigger role to play because I think Australia has the wherewithal insofar as assisting similarly or aligning with similarly minded countries. Specifically, you have the technology, you have the industrial base and cybersecurity capabilities which we don’t possess.”

Tolentino said the proposal was being discussed by the Philippine Senate foreign relations committee, whose chair is Imee Marcos, the elder sister of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos jnr.

Marcos has swung the Philippines back towards the US, its long-term treaty ally, since succeeding Rodrigo Duterte as president. Duterte entertained closer relations with China during his six-year term in which he even threatened to tear up the deal under which American troops rotate in and out of the country.

Under an extension of its Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement with the Philippines, the US will be given access to four additional military bases, three of which may be on the island of Luzon facing Taiwan.

It is events in the South China Sea that are causing the most angst, however, for Marcos, who has vowed not to cede an inch of maritime territory.

Filipino fishermen have long been subjected to harassment from the Chinese coast guard and militia vessels in the disputed, resource-rich waterway and this week it emerged that the Philippines had lodged 77 diplomatic protests with China since Marcos took office last June.

The most dramatic of the incidents occurred in February when a Chinese ship shined a laser at a Philippine coast guard boat, temporarily blinding some crew on board.

Australia is no stranger to such behaviour - in February 2022 a Chinese Navy destroyer in the Arafura Sea pointed a laser in the direction of a Royal Australian Air Force plane.

Defence Minister Richard Marles signalled on a trip to Manila last week that Australia was considering entering into joint patrols in the South China Sea with the Philippines.

“As countries which are committed to the global rules-based order, it is natural that we should think about ways in which we can cooperate in this respect,” Marles said during the visit, which coincided with the start of six weeks of military drills between Australian and Philippine troops in southern Mindanao.

John Blaxland, professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies at the Australian National University, believes the pros of such deeper engagement far outweigh the cons.

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“Alarmists will say it is inviting trouble. I don’t buy that,” he said. “China’s approach is it will take [steps] until it meets resistance. So far, it has met little resistance. It will stop when it meets resistance because it does not want to cross the kinetic threshold of war.

“I think it’s important we offer whatever support we can to help our neighbours to demonstrate their own resolve. These countries are under a lot of pressure to simply give up and to let China have what it wants. It’s not, in my view, in Australia’s interest for that to happen.”

Australia supports Manila’s claims to territory in what the latter calls the West Philippine Sea, recognising a landmark tribunal decision in The Hague in 2016 that ruled in the Philippines’ favour and against Beijing’s historic claims.

China, however, continues to declare most of the South China Sea as its own under its nine-dash line and has flexed its muscles by building artificial islands in the area and militarising them.