Join our crew and become one of the 107,032 members that receive our newsletter.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan meet with Philippines counterparts at U.S. State Department in Washington, U.S., April 12, 2024. REUTERS/Michael A. McCoy REFILE - CORRECTING ANTONY BLINKEN'S NAME
Philippines Tells US It Will Assert South China Sea Rights
By David Brunnstrom (Reuters) – The Philippines is determined to assert its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, its foreign secretary said on Friday at a meeting with U.S. allies to show support for Manila over an increasingly fraught standoff with China in the strategic waterway.
Speaking at the U.S. State Department, Enrique Manalo accused China of “escalation of its harassment” of the Philippines, while U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington stood with Manila against what he described as “coercion.”
Recent maritime run-ins between China and the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, have made the highly strategic South China Sea a potential flashpoint between Washington and Beijing.
The officials spoke at a meeting between U.S. and Philippines defense and foreign secretaries and their national security advisers, a day after leaders of the U.S., Japan and the Philippines met at the White House to push back against Beijing’s increased pressure on Manila.
“We are determined to assert our sovereign rights, especially within our economic – exclusive economic zone,” Manalo said.
Chinese Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons towards a Philippine resupply vessel Unaizah May 4 on its way to a resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, March 5, 2024. REUTERS/Adrian Portugal/File Photo
He said he hoped Friday’s meeting would allow Washington and the Philippines to better coordinate their responses on the diplomatic and defense and security fronts.
Austin said the U.S. commitment to its mutual defense treaty with the Philippines was “ironclad”.
“We’re working in lockstep … to strengthen interoperability between our forces, to expand our operational coordination and to stand up to coercion in the South China Sea,” he said.
Two prominent U.S. senators this week introduced a bipartisan bill to provide Manila with $2.5 billion over five years, funding needed to modernize the U.S. ally’s long-neglected armed forces.
A joint readout of Friday’s meeting said the officials “underscored their determination to increase U.S. support for the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to improve interoperability and to achieve our shared security objectives.”
At the Pentagon later on Friday, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos said that the developing U.S.-Philippines alliance was not a response to any particular threat, but rather an evolution of the relationship to continue to defend international rules and law in the region.
China uses a so-called nine-dash line that takes in about 90% of the South China Sea to assert its claim to sovereignty over nearly all of the strategic waterway, and has deployed hundreds of coast guard vessels in patrols against rival claimants.
The United States has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines and has repeatedly made clear it would protect its ally if Manila’s coast guard or armed forces came under attack anywhere in the South China Sea
Encounters have become more frequent in the past year as Beijing presses its claims and Manila refuses to halt fishing and resupply activities for Philippine military personnel at two contested shoals. China considers these illegal intrusions, and has tried to repel the vessels.
In a series of Washington summits this week, the allied leaders unveiled a wide range of pacts to boost security and economic ties in the face of China’s growing might.
Earlier on Friday, China summoned Japanese and Philippine diplomats to express strong dissatisfaction over negative comments about it aired during Thursday’s trilateral summit.
Gregory Poling, a South China Sea expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the summit between President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Marcos was part of “a steady drumbeat of support for the Philippines.”
“That has included strengthening the U.S. alliance to deter China from using military force and building up the capacity of the Philippine Coast Guard and Navy to maintain access to its waters despite China’s coercion,” he said.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Simon Lewis; Additional reporting by Idrees Ali; Editing by Sharon Singleton, Andrew Heavens and Jonathan Oatis, Reuters)
by John Konrad (gCaptain) After a blitz of appearances promoting Operation Prosperity Guardian early in the year, the White House has been mostly silent this summer on the US Navy’s considerable efforts...
According to Admiral Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, the Western response to the Red Sea conflict has been “anemic, indecisive, and predominantly defensive.” Do we have the will...
By John Konrad (gCaptain) Alfred Thayer Mahan’s importance and strength lie in his groundbreaking ideas on sea power and its crucial role in national security and power projection at sea....
June 22, 2024
Total Views: 2438
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.