Rule of law, alliances crucial vs. aggression, says top Luxembourg official

Upholding the rule of law and alliances with like-minded states provide a regional safeguard against aggression, Luxembourg’s deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said Wednesday, as he sought closer ties with the Philippines, which has been at the forefront of defending a rules-based regime in a region dealing with often violent maritime disputes with China.

The Philippines and Luxembourg signed an agreement to build a stronger partnership that will boost and expand their cooperation in various areas, such  trade and investments and technology.

The memorandum of understanding signed Wednesday in Manila by Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro and Bettel, also Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister, would foster economic cooperation and collaboration on information communications technology, space technology, including AI, science and technology, creative industries, and labor mobility. It also allows both sides to hold frequent bilateral consultations on bilateral and international issues of mutual interest.

“It is important to respect this rule of law, and to fight also, and to have partners, even if it's 10,000 kilometers far away, who share the same values,” Bettel said in a joint press conference with Lazaro.

“We are different, but together we are united in the diversity, in the multilateralism, and in respect of the rule of law,” he added.

Bettel, who discussed the South China Sea disputes with Lazaro in a closed-door meeting, stressed that “rule of law” is the “best protection, particularly for small countries, such as Luxembourg and the Philippines.

An alliance among pro-democracy states also serves as a deterrence against violators of rule of law, he added.

“You can't choose your neighbors, but you can choose friends,” he said. “There are countries with whom we want to go in the same direction, countries where we know that the respect of rule of law is the backbone of society.”

Lazaro said she is optimistic that the continued engagements and consultations will deepen cooperation and strengthen the relations "founded on mutual respect and shared interests" between the Philippines and Luxembourg.

Manila and Beijing are locked in a years-long dispute in the South China Sea, which China claims nearly in its entirety. Manila calls parts of the waters near the Philippine archipelago the West Philippine Sea. The Philippines largely won a landmark case against China's massive claim in the South China Sea before an arbitration tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands in 2016, but Beijing refused to recognize the ruling.

Bettel said he is confident that under the Philippines’ leadership as the current chairman of the Association of South East Asian Nations, conflicts facing the bloc’s members, such as the border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand and the violence in Myanmar, would be resolved peacefully.  He also said Luxembourg supports the Philippines’ candidature for a non-permanent seat in the powerful United Nations Security Council. Elections will be held in June.

“We do everything we can to support the candidature of the Philippines…because it will be important in the Security Council in this difficult time that we will have a country we can trust,” Bettel said. —LDF, GMA Integrated News