That was the most specific commitment yet from the United States, about coming to the defense of its treaty ally the Philippines in case of external aggression.
Meeting with President Marcos at Malacañang on Monday, US Vice President Kamala Harris said: “An armed attack on the Philippines’ armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the South China Sea would invoke US mutual defense commitments. And that is an unwavering commitment that we have to the Philippines.”
How binding this is to Washington is unclear. Some quarters have been seeking such an unequivocal commitment on the South China Sea from Washington to be written into the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the two countries.
They note ambiguity in this MDT aspect compared with the US defense treaty with Japan, for example. Article V of our MDT says it applies only to “the metropolitan territory” of either of the parties. So it does not cover the South China Sea and Spratlys. Washington has maintained that it does not take a stance on sovereignty and territorial issues in the SCS.
On the other hand, those who see no need to amend the MDT say that it covers Philippine “armed forces, public vessels or aircraft” in the South China Sea, which the US considers as part of the Pacific area.
Hours before Harris arrived in Manila, there was a tug-of-war between the Chinese Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy over metal debris found floating in the West Philippine Sea.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command reported that a Navy team found the debris at 6:45 a.m. last Sunday drifting about 800 yards west of Pag-asa Island in Palawan. The AFP Wescom reported that the Navy ship was towing the “unidentified floating object” or UFO toward Pag-asa when it was blocked twice by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel.
The Chinese ship, backed by about 37 maritime militia or fishing vessels, deployed an inflatable boat, which “forcefully retrieved said floating object by cutting the towing line attached to the rubber boat… then towed it back” to the Chinese ship, Wescom reported.
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In a statement issued late Monday night, apparently because it had to wait for word direct from Beijing, the Chinese embassy denied that there was use of force or that any blocking took place.
Quoting its Foreign Ministry, the embassy statement described the encounter between the two countries’ forces (the Chinese Coast Guard is under the military) as “friendly.”
The embassy said that at 8 a.m. on Nov. 20, its coast guard found “an unidentified floating object in the waters off the Nansha Islands, which was later identified as the wreckage of the firing of a rocket recently launched by China.”
The statement admitted: “Before the China Coast Guard found the said floating object, some Philippine Navy personnel already retrieved and towed it.”
“After friendly consultation the Philippine side returned the floating object to the Chinese side on the spot. The Chinese side expressed gratitude to the Philippine side. There was no so-called blocking of the course of a Philippine Navy boat and forcefully retrieving the object at the scene,” the embassy declared.
Did something get lost in translation? The mayor of Pag-asa said the two sides apparently communicated but could not understand each other.
Was English spoken? If Beijing wants to avoid misunderstandings that can spark armed conflict in a flashpoint, it should have persons who can communicate in English on its vessels. Whether or not China resents the situation, English is the lingua franca in international maritime communication, as it is in aviation.
Even if the UFO belonged to China, obviously, the AFP didn’t consider the encounter “friendly.”
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Yesterday Harris went to Palawan as planned, and visited a Philippine Coast Guard ship in Puerto Princesa.
Some quarters have warned that Beijing could see her visit to Palawan as an act of provocation. But why should a visit to our own island province by an official of our treaty ally be deemed provocative by China?
When Nancy Pelosi, in her final months as US House speaker, visited Taipei last August, Beijing expressed its displeasure by firing a barrage of live missiles over Taiwan. But Taiwan is not Palawan. Will Beijing fire missiles over Pag-asa following Harris’ visit? Now that will be provocative. It will be an act of aggression.
President Marcos, who has accepted a visit to China in January, urged Harris to enjoy Palawan. Expressing trust in the AFP’s version of events, he also said the Philippines would lodge a protest in connection with the UFO.
It’s a balancing act that’s not unique to the Philippines. Other countries are doing the same thing. Even China and the US are constantly balancing their interests amid their geopolitical rivalry. Their economies are so closely intertwined that if one catches the flu, the other is sure to be infected.
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The strongest ties, however, are those based on shared values, rules-based international order and way of life. This must underpin our “independent” foreign policy of being a friend to all and enemy to none.
At the same time, we should get serious about attaining credible self-defense capability. Remember that it’s a Mutual Defense Treaty with the US – meaning we should have the same “ironclad” commitment to assist Uncle Sam if it comes under armed attack.
Instead of waiting for the US to come to our defense, we should have the capability to hang on to UFOs found within our waters – at least until clear communication lines have been established and a proper request has been made by the country claiming ownership of the debris.
China is also feuding with Indonesia over the South China Sea. What does Indonesia do? Under its president Joko Widodo, Indonesia blasted and sank a Chinese vessel together with 40 other foreign boats in May 2015 for illegal fishing in Indonesian waters. In 2016, Widodo held a cabinet meeting aboard a warship off the Natuna islands where the Chinese insist on fishing.
So far, no part of Indonesia has been hit by a Chinese missile.
The Philippine Navy should have the capability to prevent any foreign devils from cutting its towing rope. Wescom’s spokesperson explained: “Since it involved an unidentified object and not a matter of life and death, our team just decided to return… we practice maximum tolerance in such a situation.”
Maybe so, but others will see it as a pathetic display of the weakness of our naval capability.
Bullying is done because the bully can.
We should have our own capability to defend ourselves from the neighborhood bully.
Even our allies will appreciate it.