Piracy by Islamist extremists in a crucial south Philippine trade route has triggered alarm in Manila and opened a potential new dimension in the proxy superpower struggle in the region’s seas. 

A spate of sea kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf militants around the Sibutu passage that links Southeast Asia to the wider Pacific region is a “major concern” and may need US or Chinese intervention to help, the Philippine defence secretary said. 

The emergence of the narrow channel as an international piracy trouble spot has added to worries about the security of Asian waters already roiled by territorial disputes between Beijing and other capitals. It has also highlighted growing activity in Southeast Asia’s archipelagos by militant groups such as Abu Sayyaf, which splintered from the southern Philippines’ decades-old Islamist insurgency and is notorious for its violence and profiteering.