The Philippines followed up an ASEAN summit by releasing a final communique yesterday that removed mention of international concerns over China’s “militarization” of newly built islands in the disputed South China Sea in a major concession to Beijing.
The 25-page statement issued by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte following the day-long meeting of ASEAN leaders that he hosted in Manila also made no direct mention of his country’s landmark arbitration victory against China last year.
A vague reference to the ruling was removed from a part of the communique that discussed the long-seething territorial conflicts and moved elsewhere in the document.
Photo: Reuters
The changes were apparent based on a previous draft of the communique seen by reporters.
A foreign diplomat based in Manila said that the Philippines circulated a stronger draft statement to other ASEAN members, which was backed by countries like Vietnam.
Other governments made suggestions, but Duterte, as ASEAN chairman this year, could decide how to shape the language of the regional bloc’s “chairman’s statement,” said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lack of authority to discuss the issue publicly.
Photo: EPA / Presidential Photographers Division handout
China and ASEAN member states Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, along with Taiwan, have overlapping claims to territory in the South China Sea.
ASEAN, which makes decisions by consensus, has previously struggled to come up with statements on the issue, with Duterte’s predecessor often pushing for a tougher tone against China and getting pushback from Cambodia and Laos, unwilling to upset their largest trading partner and most important economic benefactor.
China has dismissed and ignored the arbitration ruling handed down in July last year, which invalidated most of its historic claims to almost all of the South China Sea.
Since taking office in June last year, Duterte has taken a much softer stance on China and the disputes than his predecessor.
That was reflected in yesterday’s watered-down communique, which three Philippine officials said came at the request of Chinese diplomats in Manila.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the issue with the media.
Former Philippine officials who dealt with the disputes say Duterte’s concessions to China could weaken the ability of the Philippines and other ASEAN members to seek Chinese compliance to the arbitration ruling and curb Beijing’s increasingly assertive behavior.
“Our government, in its desire to fully and quickly accommodate our aggressive northern neighbor may have left itself negotiating a perilous road with little or no room to rely on brake power and a chance to shift gears if necessary,” former Philippine foreign secretary Albert del Rosario said.
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
Israel yesterday said it has begun preparations for the departure of large numbers of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip in line with US President Donald Trump’s plan for the territory, while Egypt has launched a diplomatic blitz behind the scenes to try and head off the plan. The Trump administration has already dialed back aspects of the proposal after it was widely rejected internationally, saying the relocation of Palestinians would be temporary. US officials have provided few details about how or when the plan would be carried out. Trump yesterday said that Israel would turn Gaza over to the US after the