China says Philippine-US tag team to worsen South China Sea tension
By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter
A PHILIPPINES-US tag team against China would worsen tensions in the South China Sea, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, after Washington committed to give Manila $500 million (P29.3 billion) in military aid.
“The Philippines needs to see that ganging up with countries outside the region to engage in confrontation in the South China Sea will only destabilize the region ad create more tensions,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news briefing in Beijing on Wednesday evening.
He said Manila should focus on engaging in dialogue and consultation instead of allowing the United States to “interfere in the maritime issue.”
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs did not immediately reply to a WhatsApp message seeking comment.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III announced the new military funding on Tuesday in Manila after their 2 + 2 ministerial dialogue with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo and Defense Secretary Gilberto Eduardo C. Teodoro, Jr.
“To seek security assurance from external forces will only lead to greater insecurity and turn oneself into someone else’s chess piece,” the Chinese spokesman said.
He added that allowing the deployment of US missiles in the Philippines would fuel tensions and incite a regional arms race.
The US brought a mid-range missile system for the annual Balikatan or shoulder-to-shoulder military exercises with the Philippines earlier this year.
Philippine Senate President Francis G. Escudero on Wednesday said Washington’s military funding won’t provoke or agitate China, saying it is every country’s right to strengthen its military to keep the peace.
US President Joseph R. Biden, who signed the National Security Supplemental bill into law in April, had said it would help American allies “defend themselves against threats to their sovereignty and to the lives and freedom of their citizens.”
In April, Republican Senator Bill Hagerty and Democrat Senator Tim Kaine pushed a bill that increased US military aid for the Philippines to $500 million from $40 million over five fiscal years through 2029.
The Philippines, one of the weakest in the world in terms of military capability, is important to Washington’s efforts to push back against China, which claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety.
Manila and Beijing on July 2 reached a “provisional arrangement” for Philippine resupply missions to Second Thomas Shoal, which the Philippines calls Ayungin.
They resumed talks to ease tensions in the waterway after accusing each other of raising tensions in disputed shoals and reefs in the South China Sea.
Beijing has urged its neighbor not to “backpedal” or do anything that would complicate the situation in the waterway.
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said in his third address before Congress that his government would continue to find ways to de-escalate tensions in contested areas in the waterway “without compromising our position and our principles.”
China claims more than 80% of the South China Sea, overlapping with the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines.
A United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016 voided China’s claim over the waterway for being illegal. Beijing has ignored the ruling.
About $3 trillion worth of trade passes through the South China Sea annually, and it is believed to be rich in oil and natural gas deposits, apart from fish stocks.