US, Philippines to expand maritime cooperation

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The US and the Philippines have announced to expand maritime cooperation while China Thursday stressed the South China Sea “should not become a hunting ground for forces” from outside the region.

After Pentagon hosted visiting Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, the two allies announced the implementation of bilateral maritime security frameworks.

“Priority areas of collaboration include, deepening interoperability between the navies and maritime law enforcement agencies … continued conduct of bilateral exercises and training and combined maritime activities, including but not limited to joint patrols,” read the US and Philippines Bilateral Defense Guidelines.

It added any armed attack in the Pacific, “anywhere in the South China Sea, on either Philippine or (the) US armed forces – which includes both nations’ Coast Guards – aircraft, or public vessels, would invoke mutual defense commitments under Article IV and Article V of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).”

The two countries signed the MDT in 1951.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reiterated Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to the Philippines under the MDT.

The treaty, Austin said, “applies to armed attacks on our armed forces, coast guard vessels, public vessels, or aircraft in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea.”

Addressing Marcos, Austin said: “So, make no mistake, Mr. President, we will always have your back in the South China Sea or elsewhere in the region.”

- South China ‘shared home’

Mao Ning, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that the South China Sea was “the shared home of regional countries.”

"With the concerted efforts of regional countries, the situation in the South China Sea has maintained overall stability. The US-Philippines defense guidelines is a bilateral arrangement. China firmly opposes any country’s move to meddle in the South China Sea issue to harm China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests by citing the guidelines," Mao said.

"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 South China Sea," the Chinese spokeswoman added.

Manila is Washington’s oldest ally in Southeast Asia and recipient of the largest US military aid.

Manila recently announced four new military bases for joint use with the US under their Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), signed in 2014.

Now, the American soldiers will have access to at least nine Filipino military bases in the archipelago nation.

However, Manila has assured it “won’t allow” the US to stockpile weapons at joint military bases in the Southeast Asian nation for use in operations in Taiwan.

In Washington on Wednesday, the US and the Philippines also "reaffirmed the importance of the 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea."

The mineral-rich warm waters of the South China Sea have long been the subject of contention between China and some regional countries, with the US siding with countries opposing Beijing's claims.

In 2016, the Philippines won a case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that invalidated China's South China Sea expansion claims.

Washington has frequently sailed its warships and flown its fighter jets over the warm waters of the South China Sea under the so-called "freedom of navigation," which Beijing has repeatedly denounced as a violation of its territorial integrity.

China's claims are based on its so-called "nine-dash line," which are purple dashes on official Chinese maps that represent Beijing's historical claims to the sea.