Romualdez calls China's Xi 'evasive' on tensions, urges multilateral patrols
Philippine and U.S. aircraft take part in a joint maritime exercise in the South China Sea during November. (Philippine Air Force via Reuters)
RYO NAKAMURA,
Nikkei staff writer
December 13, 2023
WASHINGTON -- The skirmishes between Philippine and Chinese vessels in the South China Sea could spark a major conflict at "any time," the Philippine ambassador to the U.S. warns.
The South China Sea "is the flashpoint, not Taiwan," Jose Manuel Romualdez told Nikkei Asia in an interview on Thursday. "[If] anything happens in our area, it's like the beginning of another war, world war."
The Philippines on Sunday said that a Chinese vessel used water cannons and rammed Manila's ships headed to their resupply mission at Ayungin Shoal in the Spratly Islands. This followed an incident a day earlier in which Chinese Coast Guard ships are accused of using water cannons against Philippine civilian vessels near Scarborough Shoal.
The escalations came weeks after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. tried to manage tensions in the critical waterway during an encounter with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in the U.S. state of California.
"[Marcos] wanted to show that 'I'm willing to talk to you.' But it doesn't look like President Xi was in the mood to have anything like that," Romualdez said, calling it "disappointing."
The ambassador said Xi "was very evasive" and "noncommittal."
"He didn't say anything," Romualdez recalled of the leaders meeting. "He just listened, and then he just said, 'We'll just let our defense and our diplomats talk about this."
China asserts historical rights to nearly all of the South China Sea and rejects Manila's own maritime claims. Beijing has defied a 2016 ruling by an international tribunal in the Hague that denied Beijing's historical claim.
Romualdez called for multilateral responses to counter China's coercive actions, including joint patrols in the South China Sea.
"The only way to do that is to have multilateral countries show force," the ambassador said. Citing joint sails and air patrols with the U.S. in late November, he said "it's like a trial run. I think we will have more in the future."
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told Nikkei during an interview in November that Japan, New Zealand, the U.K., Canada and France are among the candidates to join multilateral patrols in the South China Sea.
The Philippines gives the American military access to nine sites across the archipelago. The arrangement is meant to enable the U.S. to not only provide disaster relief and humanitarian assistance quickly but also respond to contingencies in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
Romualdez was asked which materials Manila allows the U.S. to preposition in the nine locations.
"Offensive weapons, we have to discuss it on a case-by-case basis. Ammunition can be interpreted many ways," he said, indicating the possibility that the U.S. military might prepare for high-end conflict around the country.
U.S. Gen. Charles Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke Monday by phone with Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. -- chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines -- about the South China Sea.
The readout from the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military officials "discussed mutual strategic security interests and opportunities for increased military cooperation, including enhancing maritime cooperation, improving interoperability and information sharing, and increasing training and exercises."
Though repeatedly committing to defend the Philippines as a treaty ally, the Pentagon stops short of applying the mutual defense treaty to unsafe operations such as use of water cannons and collisions.
WASHINGTON -- The skirmishes between Philippine and Chinese vessels in the South China Sea could spark a major conflict at "any time," the Philippine ambassador to the U.S. warns.
The South China Sea "is the flashpoint, not Taiwan," Jose Manuel Romualdez told Nikkei Asia in an interview on Thursday. "[If] anything happens in our area, it's like the beginning of another war, world war."
The Philippines on Sunday said that a Chinese vessel used water cannons and rammed Manila's ships headed to their resupply mission at Ayungin Shoal in the Spratly Islands. This followed an incident a day earlier in which Chinese Coast Guard ships are accused of using water cannons against Philippine civilian vessels near Scarborough Shoal.
The escalations came weeks after Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. tried to manage tensions in the critical waterway during an encounter with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in the U.S. state of California.
"[Marcos] wanted to show that 'I'm willing to talk to you.' But it doesn't look like President Xi was in the mood to have anything like that," Romualdez said, calling it "disappointing."
The ambassador said Xi "was very evasive" and "noncommittal."
"He didn't say anything," Romualdez recalled of the leaders meeting. "He just listened, and then he just said, 'We'll just let our defense and our diplomats talk about this."
China asserts historical rights to nearly all of the South China Sea and rejects Manila's own maritime claims. Beijing has defied a 2016 ruling by an international tribunal in the Hague that denied Beijing's historical claim.
Romualdez called for multilateral responses to counter China's coercive actions, including joint patrols in the South China Sea.
"The only way to do that is to have multilateral countries show force," the ambassador said. Citing joint sails and air patrols with the U.S. in late November, he said "it's like a trial run. I think we will have more in the future."
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro told Nikkei during an interview in November that Japan, New Zealand, the U.K., Canada and France are among the candidates to join multilateral patrols in the South China Sea.
The Philippines gives the American military access to nine sites across the archipelago. The arrangement is meant to enable the U.S. to not only provide disaster relief and humanitarian assistance quickly but also respond to contingencies in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.
Romualdez was asked which materials Manila allows the U.S. to preposition in the nine locations.
"Offensive weapons, we have to discuss it on a case-by-case basis. Ammunition can be interpreted many ways," he said, indicating the possibility that the U.S. military might prepare for high-end conflict around the country.
U.S. Gen. Charles Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke Monday by phone with Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. -- chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines -- about the South China Sea.
The readout from the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military officials "discussed mutual strategic security interests and opportunities for increased military cooperation, including enhancing maritime cooperation, improving interoperability and information sharing, and increasing training and exercises."
Though repeatedly committing to defend the Philippines as a treaty ally, the Pentagon stops short of applying the mutual defense treaty to unsafe operations such as use of water cannons and collisions.
No comments:
Post a Comment