US to hold more patrols with allies in disputed sea
A UNITED STATES security official on Thursday said Washington is expected to hold more patrols with allies in the South China Sea.
The Philippines, US, Japan and Australia recently held joint naval drills within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the waterway. China responded by holding its own naval patrols.
“This is about freedom of navigation,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said at a briefing in Washington, based on a statement sent by the Philippine presidential palace.
“It’s about adherence to international law. It’s about proving the simple point that we and our allies will fly, sail and operate wherever international law permits us to do and it does in the South China Sea, and we did,” he added.
“You can look forward to additional opportunities for us to conduct those kinds of maritime patrols. But they are really about reconfirming a simple principle about international maritime law in international waters.”
Mr. Marcos arrived in Washington on Wednesday night for a three-day visit including his three-way summit with US President Joseph R. Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
At the weekend, Washington, Tokyo, Canberra and Manila held joint military drills within the Philippine EEZ in the South China Sea.
China conducted surprise combat patrols on the same day, with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command saying “all military activities that mess up the situation in the South China Sea and create hotspots are under control.”
Mr. Kirby said there’s no reason for China to “overreact” to these joint drills.
Tensions between the Philippines and China have worsened in the past year as Beijing ’s coast guard continues to block resupply missions to Second Thomas Shoal, where Manila grounded a World War II-era ship in 1999 to assert its sovereignty.
The shoal is 240 kilometers off the coast of the Philippine province of Palawan and is about 900 kilometers from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese landmass.
Second Thomas Shoal, Luconia Shoals, Scarborough Shoal, Vanguard Bank, and Thitu Island were the five features most frequented by patrols of the Chinese Coast Guard last year, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative.
In March, China had warned Manila to “be prepared to bear all potential consequences” if it “insists on going its own way.”
Mr. Kirby said the US has been “watching those tensions with great concern.” “We again urge the People’s Republic of China to abide by the 2016 ruling.”
He was referring to the decision of a United Nations-backed tribunal in the Hague that voided China’s claim to more than 80% of the South China Sea.
He said Mr. Biden had “made our concerns known about Chinese activities in the South China Sea” during his recent telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Mr. Marcos and Mr. Biden were set to hold a separate meeting after the trilateral summit.
“We denounce the trilateral summit as a US-led move to bring the region closer to war in order to maintain US hegemony and thwart China’s ambitions as a rival power,” P1NAS spokesman Antonio Tinio said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
Japan under Mr. Kishida is undergoing a military buildup unseen since World War II, while the Philippines under Mr. Marcos has enabled the expansion of US military presence in the region, he added.
“We call for a truly independent foreign policy that will uphold our sovereign rights against the illegal and violent encroachments of China and repudiate the war-mongering of the US.”
Before flying to Washington, Mr. Marcos said in his departure speech that one of the main goals of the summit is “to keep the peace in the South China Sea and the freedom of navigation (there).”
He said he would reiterate “the importance of upholding the rule of law and preserving the rules-based international order in the IndoPacific region.” —