PHL will tell China it has defense treaty with US

The Philippines will remind China that it has a mutual defense treaty with the United States, a complication in the dynamics between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries and China.

President Rodrigo Duterte, in an ambush interview with reporters before the start of the ASEAN-China Summit on Wednesday, said he will press for the conclusion of negotiations for a code of conduct (COC) in the disputed South China Sea during the meeting between Southeast Asian leaders and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Singapore.

The COC can dictate manners by which countries can deal with each other.

“It’s [mutual defense treaty] not been abrogated. It’s there and even I don’t know [if] it's the decision of the President, Congress, the Armed Forces,” he said.

Pres. Duterte says he will China in Summit that Philippines has mutual defense treaty with US; that’s why Code of Conduct needs to be negotiated soonest @gmanews pic.twitter.com/vwzh8BvDmV

— Joseph Morong (@Joseph_Morong) November 14, 2018

The Philippines is a dialogue coordinator between ASEAN and China until 2021.

“Yes, I will focus on the COC. Everything has been excellent between China and the rest of the ASEAN except for the fact that there’s friction between the western nations and China," he said.

Duterte then mentioned the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the US that obliges American troops to help defend the Philippines if it comes under attack.

"And I am worried and I expressed it last night because we have a defense treaty, mutual defense treaty with the US,” he added.

The President seemed to suggest that the Philippines may be in a bind if there are conflicts in the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea, the name the Philippines calls that part of the ocean where it has claims.

“[If]…there’s some serious miscalculation can…you know and because of the treaty I'd like to [tell] China that is why at all cost we must have the COC. So you’re there, you’re in possession, you occupied it, then tell us what route shall we take and what kind of behavior do you want,” he said.

Duterte made the statement before the ASEAN-China Summit, which came after he skipped the breakfast meeting of ASEAN leaders with Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Defying China’s warnings to keep out of the disputes, US military vessels, in a direct challenge to what it calls Beijing’s excessive claims in the waters, have repeatedly sailed within 12 nautical miles on features unilaterally expanded by China, prompting angry protests from Beijing. US planes have also flown over the Chinese-controlled areas.

China, which considers the sea disputes a purely Asian issue, is opposed to any foreign intervention, particularly from the US, accusing Washington of military intervention.

Although the US is not a party to the disputes, it has declared in the past that it is in its national interest to ensure freedom of navigation, trade and peace and stability in the South China Sea, where a bulk of the world’s trade passes through.

China claims “indisputable sovereignty” over 90 percent of the waters, where undersea gas, oil and mineral deposits have been discovered in several areas.

The Philippines is currently the dialogue coordinator between China and the ASEAN which are currently negotiating for a COC which aims to prevent conflicting territorial claims in the resource-rich and strategic waterway from erupting into violent confrontations or worse, an economically-devastating major conflict. —KG, GMA News