US vows to uphold Philippine maritime rights

MANILA, Philippines — While emphasizing the need to approach relations with China with more “realism,” the United States has vowed to help its allies, including the Philippines, in upholding maritime rights.

In his speech on the Biden administration’s approach to China on Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would continue to oppose Beijing’s aggressive and unlawful activities in the South and East China Seas.

He cited the water cannon incident by Chinese Coast Guard vessels in forcing a Philippine Navy ship to leave the West Philippine Sea.

“Many of our partners already know from painful experience how Beijing can come down hard when they make choices that it dislikes,” Blinken said.

“Actions like these remind the world of how Beijing can retaliate against perceived opposition,” he said.

Nearly six years ago, an international tribunal found that Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea have no basis in international law.

“We’ll support the region’s coastal states in upholding their maritime rights. We’ll work with allies and partners to uphold freedom of navigation and overflight, which has enabled the region’s prosperity for decades,” Blinken said. “And we’ll continue to fly and sail wherever international law allows.”

China’s transformation, he said, was made possible by the stability and opportunity that the international order provides.

“Under President Xi Jinping, Biden said the ruling Chinese Communist Party has become more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad,” Blinken declared.

Washington is reinvigorating its partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Earlier this month, the US hosted the US-ASEAN Summit to discuss urgent issues.

The US said it would continue to stand by the historic South China Sea ruling despite earlier pronouncement of president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that he would shelve the decision and negotiate directly with China.

At a working lunch hosted by US Vice President Kamala Harris during the ASEAN-US Special Summit in Washington, the Philippines thanked the US for being the most vocal partner of the Philippines in reaffirming the arbitral ruling.

In his speech, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., who represented President Duterte, said the benefit of the arbitral award is not exclusive to the Philippines, stressing that it provides legal clarity to all and is available to other countries with the same problematic maritime features as the Philippines.

Marcos, son and namesake of the late deposed president, does not believe the 2016 arbitral ruling is effective as he prefers seeking a bilateral agreement with China to resolve the long-running maritime and territorial disputes with Beijing.