Beijing is stepping up pressure on Manila to concede its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro said yesterday after meeting his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, in Canberra.
The fifth such meeting since August last year reflects growing security ties between the countries, which have both voiced concern about Chinese activity in areas of the busy waterway claimed by Taiwan, the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations.
“What we see is an increasing demand by Beijing for us to concede our sovereign rights in the area,” Teodoro said after meeting Marles, adding that the Philippines was a “victim of Chinese aggression.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
The two countries signed a strategic partnership in September last year before holding their first joint sea and air patrols in the South China Sea months later. This year, the Philippines also joined war games in Australia for the first time.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) said Beijing has taken measures to assert its rights after the Philippines “infringed first.”
“If the Philippines no longer infringes and provokes, there will be no more escalation of the maritime situation,” he told a press briefing.
China and the Philippines have sparred repeatedly this year over disputed areas of the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島).
On Sunday, China said it defined a baseline of “territorial waters” around the shoal in response to Philippine approval of two laws defining its sea lanes and maritime zones to bolster its territorial claims around the South China Sea.
Manila’s National Maritime Council yesterday said it objected to China’s establishment of baselines and accused Beijing of breaching its sovereignty.
“The establishment of the baselines by China around the shoal is a continuation of its 2012 illegal seizure of the shoal, which the Philippines continues to strongly oppose,” it said in a statement.
In related news, Teodoro said he did not expect US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration would demand that Manila pay more for military protection because both allies faced the shared threat of China.
Asked if Trump would expect the Philippines, like Taiwan, to pay for US protection, Teodoro replied: “I really don’t expect some sort of a statement from Mr Trump, hopefully not.”
“I really don’t have any preconditions or any assumptions as to what will be the outcome of this administration, except on what we are working on — on institutional ties,” he said.
“We have an interest, both the United States and the Philippines, in ensuring that our partnership continues because — not totally, but principally — ... of shared threats. And that is undoubtedly the overreach and the aggressive and illegal activities of China,” he said.
Additional reporting by AP
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