Australia pledges additional maritime aid to Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Australia is expanding its maritime assistance to the Philippines through a fresh A$18 million (P770 million), four-year investment.

In a keynote address at De La Salle University on Australia’s relationship with Southeast Asia yesterday, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her country is investing A$10 million (P427 million) in cutting-edge drone technology and operator training for the Philippine Coast Guard.

She said Australia will continue to invest in stability by providing A$160 million (P6.8 billion) over 10 years to expand maritime cooperation with its Southeast Asian partners including the Philippines.

The cooperation is helping partners boost maritime domain awareness, implement maritime governance reform, protect the marine environment and strengthen resilience.

“Australia, with others, will continue to register our concerns about Chinese vessels engaging in destabilizing and dangerous conduct in the South China Sea, including towards Philippine, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Indonesian vessels,” Wong said.

She described Australia and the Philippines as “middle powers in a world that is changing.”

“And in these uncertain and unstable times, this demands much of all of us. It demands countries to resist the urge to turn inwards. It demands that we invest in our region, in our relationships, in the rules – in our collective resilience – before it is too late,” Wong said.

“We don’t want any single power to set the terms of our future. What we seek is a balance of power, where no country dominates and no country is dominated,” she added.

As a middle power, Australia will continue to support the rules and norms that underpin shared prosperity and shared security and continue to be a champion of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

She stressed that an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under UNCLOS handed down a unanimous, clear and binding ruling in the South China Sea arbitration between the Philippines and China.

“That 2016 Award was a landmark decision – and we have consistently called for China and the Philippines to abide by it,” Wong said. “Cases such as this in our region illustrate how international law has been built, defended, and promoted by small and medium countries from different traditions.”

Wong also raised China’s test of a nuclear-capable submarine-launched missile from the South China Sea earlier this month with too little information and notification, including to the Philippines over which the missile flew and Pacific nations, near where the missile landed.

The minister said it comes in the context of a rapid military build-up of China’s nuclear arsenal, without the transparency or reassurance the region expects.

“This is why Australia has described the test as provocative and destabilizing. Many, including Australia, have spoken for some time about the trend away from rules to the use of power,” Wong said.

“We must be clear and assert what we need to hold onto in the rules-based order. Including where disputes inevitably arise, we must continue to advocate for those differences to be managed peacefully, and in line with international law,” she said.

Australia rejects any actions or arrangements that undermine UNCLOS or any state’s rights under UNCLOS.

Police partnership

The police forces of the Philippines and Australia have strengthened their partnership in the campaign against transnational crimes.

Philippine National Police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett forged their alliance during a meeting at the PNP headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City on Wednesday.

Nartatez said yesterday the meeting reaffirmed the longstanding partnership between the police forces of the two countries in addressing security threats beyond national borders through closer intelligence sharing and strengthens their drive against cybercrime, human trafficking, terrorism and drug trafficking.

“By sharing intelligence, expertise and best practices, we improve our capability to respond to security threats that no country can address alone,” he said in a statement.

The PNP will be send more investigators and cybercrime personnel to joint courses and workshops with the Australian police.