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PHL, US reaffirm defense and security alliance amid increasing Chinese militarization in South China Sea


The Philippines and the United States on Tuesday reaffirmed their defense and security alliance amid increasing Chinese militarization in the South China Sea, as the US vowed anew to come to Manila's aid against an external attack in the disputed waters.

A joint statement released at the end of their two-day Bilateral Strategic Review in Manila said both sides "recognized the importance of a strong alliance in enhancing security cooperation and promoting regional stability and prosperity."

 

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez answers questions from reporters during a press conference on the 8th Philippines-United States Bilateral Strategic Dialogue on Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Makati City. Danny Pata

 

"They recalled Secretary (Michael) Pompeo’s statements on the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) during his March 2019 visit to Manila, particularly the clarification that the South China Sea is in the Pacific, and that any armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft in the SCS will trigger Article IV of the Mutual Defense Treaty," the statement said.

Noting this, senior officials led by Foreign Undersecretary for Policy Enrique Manalo and Department of National Defense Undersecretary Cesar Yano for the Philippines and Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Randy Schriver for the US, have agreed to expand areas of defense and maritime cooperation.

Among these are improving defense infrastructure, updating personnel and logistics procedures, and increasing mutual communication and coordination on operational elements of regional security.

Both sides also said they will plan a range of activities to improve maritime domain awareness.

The US and China are at odds over the long-seething territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where Beijing has turned several former reefs into artificial islands with military facilities, runways and surface to air missiles.

Although Washington is not a party to the disputes, it has declared that it is in its national interest to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight in the contested waters where the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have overlapping claims, but claimed nearly in its entirety by China.

Early this month, China conducted a missile launch in the South China Sea, in a move that could flare up tensions in the resource-rich waters.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said the South China Sea issue was discussed in the working level and that US officials said its freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea would continue despite Chinese objections.

US Navy ships, on a regular basis, have been sailing close to Chinese-occupied islands to assert freedom of navigation, prompting angry protests from China and tense confrontations between the two rival forces.

Romualdez said both the Philippines and the US have expressed concern on the missile tests - an act vehemently denied by Beijing.

A report on the incident, he said, was already provided by the US to Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.

Romualdez also said there was no final decision on the proposed review of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the US during the meeting, but said discussions are ongoing on the issue and that this may be taken up in a scheduled meeting in September.

US officials in the past have long been non-committal about Washington's response to any Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

The Obama administration said the US does not take sides in disputes over territory in Asia's cauldron of tensions, and did not cite any instances where the US would take up arms to defend the Philippines.

In response to “changing realties” and threats nearly seven decades since the MDT was signed, Manila has sought a review of the accord.

Philippine officials have long wanted to clarify if the US, its long-time treaty ally, will help defend the Philippines in case its forces come under attack in the disputed waters.

But Secretary of State Pompeo said in Manila last March that the US would come to the Philippines’ defense if it comes under attack in the South China Sea.

Romualdez, meanwhile, did not say if the Philippines will join the US' freedom of navigation operations in the strategic waters, but both sides declared that freedom of navigation, overflight, and other lawful uses of the South China Sea must be upheld.

"The relationship is there. It's strong," said Romualdez, adding that the US has expressed support for the Philippines' ongoing defense modernization program.

Philippine and US officials also stressed the importance of peacefully resolving disputes in accordance with international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

They also called for an effective and substantive conclusion of a code of conduct in the South China, a set of rules being negotiated by China and Southeast Asian nations aimed at preventing disputes from escalating into an armed conflict.

On security and counter-terrorism, senior officials pledged to deepen collaboration through improved information sharing, and port and aviation security, in order to prevent terrorist attacks within the Philippines, and the transit of foreign terrorist fighters into and within the country.

They also agreed to detect and combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. —KBK, GMA News

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