South China Sea: Philippines says it’s ‘not at war with China’, dismisses Xi’s ‘just for show’ talks

The Philippine defence chief has insisted his country has no intention to clash with Beijing even as he cast doubt on the Chinese leadership’s efforts to calm Manila’s nerves amid soaring tensions in the disputed South China Sea.

Gilberto Teodoro said the Philippines was only defending its territorial sovereignty from China’s aggressive actions, including blocking of its boats and other confrontations on the high seas.

“It is clear that we are not at war with China. We are just protecting what is ours under international law,” Teodoro said.

He said China’s claim of the Philippines encroaching on the Asian giant’s maritime areas was a “ridiculous assertion to suit its expansionist ends”.

Philippines’ Marcos Jnr urges quick end to probe of South China Sea collision

The defence secretary also accused Beijing of running a disinformation campaign linked to the sea row, portraying Manila as “puppets of the Americans” who follow their playbook, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

“This is insulting to Filipinos,” he said.

The worsening relationship with China has prompted Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr to embrace its long-time security ally the United States even tighter, with both sides signing expanded defence agreements in recent months.

The Philippines and China this week accused each other of stoking trouble in the hotly contested waterway, with Manila saying the Chinese coastguard “intentionally” collided with its boats last Sunday on a resupply mission to a handful of troops stationed on the crumbling warship BRP Sierra Madre grounded in 1999 to reinforce the Southeast Asian nation’s claim to Second Thomas Shoal.

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Beijing and Manila trade blame over ‘provocative’ moves with ship collisions near disputed shoal

Beijing and Manila trade blame over ‘provocative’ moves with ship collisions near disputed shoal

China said the Philippine boats “bumped dangerously” into its coastguard vessels.

In January, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Marcos reached a consensus on the vexed issue during their meeting in Beijing and agreed to find a “good way” to resolve the problem.

But that cordiality did not last long after the Chinese coastguard was accused of shining a “military-grade laser light” at a Philippine boat in February, temporarily blinding crew members.

Teodoro said Xi’s attempts to mend ties with Marcos do not match the reality of the situation in the South China Sea, where Beijing’s coastguard ships frequently face off with Philippine vessels.

“That’s why China’s talks with us are under false pretences. For me, it’s just for show, to show the world that they talk to us, but beneath all that, what their actions say is different,” he said.

While Teodoro expressed support for continued engagement with Beijing, he urged Chinese officials to be more transparent with their work.

Meanwhile, military chief Romeo Brawner said he feared the recurrence of Chinese ships tailing Philippine boats could increase following the collision, sparking a warning from US President Joe Biden, who said that any attack on its ally would trigger Washington’s mutual defence treaty with Manila.

“I want to be very clear. The United States defence commitment to the Philippines is ironclad,” Biden told a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the White House on Wednesday.

‘Always harassed’: the Filipino fishermen ensnared by South China Sea geopolitics

Article IV of the 1951 accord states that “an armed attack in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea, on either of their public vessels, aircraft, or armed forces – which includes their coastguards – would invoke mutual defence commitments”.

The US also sent its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan to Luzon, a Philippine island facing the South China Sea.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea – where the Philippines is among several claimants – and has rejected a 2016 international ruling on the territorial dispute in Manila’s favour.