Philippines calls for 'more dynamic' pact with US to counter China

MANILA, Philippines — While the US has reassured its oldest Asian ally that their defense partnership is “ironclad,” Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. called for the pact to be made “more dynamic” to avoid falling into “China’s trap.”

“The mutual defense treaty should be interpreted dynamically,” he told the forum organized by the US Indo-Pacific Command.

He also urged regional nations to call out China, which he described as the “biggest disruptor of peace,” for its activities in the busy waterway.

“I believe they’re not undeterrable because it’s just a question of getting a worldwide consensus,” Teodoro said.

He said it is also important for the Philippines to “collaboratively and on our own” build up its military as deterrence “in order to give them pause that we are serious in protecting our sovereignty and we will fight for it.”

“What people don’t realize is that there is active effort to reshape the international order publicly articulated by China to create a new world order and what is this new world order, this new world order will mean it will be China-led,” Teodoro pointed out.

He said such new world order will have no credibility. “Even their historical basis is questionable,” Teodoro said, referring to China.

“On the one hand, the world should see the duplicity here. They want to be bridges of peace in the Middle-East, in Africa, elsewhere where there is conflict. Yet what are they doing in their backyard, that’s what the world should see,” he stressed.

“We should not allow China to define what ASEAN centrality means. We should get together in ASEAN and protect each other’s sovereign rights and sovereignty while settling our internal disputes between and amongst ourselves,” he said.

“Yet what is China trying to do? Trying to break us apart and that fortunately will not happen because I believe firmly that our leaders realize that in this region, China, although without saying it and I’ll say it for you, is the biggest disruptor of international peace in the ASEAN region,” he added. — Alexis Romero