China has put the Philippines in a bind by sending a swarm of its maritime militia vessels to a reef in the West Philippine Sea where Manila would play into the hands of Beijing if it takes no action against the incursion or be portrayed as escalating tension between the two countries if it does, maritime and security experts said on Tuesday. If there is “inaction” to the swarm, “in Beijing’s point of view that’s basically getting a victory out of it because there’s no response from the victim,” said Dr. Collin Koh, a Research Fellow at the RSIS in Singapore.