BEIJING has expressed opposition anew to the new security guidelines between the Philippines and the United States, which included expressed commitments of Washington DC to come to the aid of Manila in case of attack in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the situation in the South China Sea (SCS) remained stable overall “with the concerted efforts” of the regional countries in Asia.
“The US-Philippines defense guidelines are a bilateral arrangement. China firmly opposes any country’s move to meddle in the SCS issue to harm China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests by citing the guidelines,” Mao said in a news briefing.
She stressed that South China is “the shared home for countries in the region and not the hunting ground for forces outside the region.”
“When regional countries are committed to mutual trust, solidarity, cooperation and properly handling differences, they have in their hand the key to peace and stability in the SCS,” she added.
The Philippine and US defense departments finalized the bilateral defense guidelines during the visit of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. in Washington D.C. Wednesday this week.
The guidelines spelled out the priority areas for defense cooperation for conventional and non-conventional security challenges that confront both two countries. This includes expanding maritime security cooperation activities like holding joint patrols.
Both defense establishments also committed to prioritize cooperation activities that involve other third-party participation and observation in bilateral Philippines-US joint military exercises.
“Recognizing that threats may arise in several domains—including land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace—and take the form of asymmetric, hybrid, and irregular warfare and gray-zone tactics, the guidelines chart a way forward to build interoperability in both conventional and non-conventional domains,” the fact sheet published by the US defense department reads.
When asked by reporters who were travelling with him, President Marcos said he believes the Chinese was only referring to the Americans.
“Well, I do not think as representing as a Filipino and representing the Philippines, I don’t feel alluded to. How can we—how can anyone say that we are not party and interest in all of these issues?” Marcos told reporters.
“So I think that kind of statement was directed more towards the United States than it was for the Philippines,” he added.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila