AMERICAN AMBASSADOR to the Philippines Sung Y. Kim assured that the United States will stand by its obligation under the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) should aggression by the Chinese government over the West Philippine Sea continue.

The ambassador also asked China to refrain from executing provocative actions in the disputed areas, following reports that the Chinese government recently fired anti-ship missiles in the South China Sea.

“All I can say is to refer to what Secretary of State (Mike) Pompeo made very clear during his visit to the Philippines a few months ago, which is that if there is an armed attack against Philippine forces, against Philippine aircraft, Philippine public vessels, it will trigger our obligation in the defense treaty,” Mr. Kim told reporters in a briefing ahead of the US Independence Day celebration in Makati on Wednesday evening.

The MDT between the Philippines and the US, signed August 30, 1951, provides in Article IV that “Each Party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the Parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its constitutional processes.”

The succeeding article defines that “an armed attack on either of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack on the metropolitan territory of either of the Parties, or on the Island territories under its jurisdiction in the Pacific Ocean, its armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific.”

Mr. Kim also raised that all nations, particularly claimants, should act according to international policies to maintain order in the disputed waters.

“I’ll just make a very general comment, we obviously urge all countries to refrain from provocative unilateral actions that’s inconsistent with international norms and practices,” he said.

“We have stated our position very clearly for quite some time and I believe our friends in the Philippines agree that China should refrain from such actions.”

Sought for comment on the alleged Chinese missile firing, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador S. Panelo said the Palace will await results of the investigation that will be conducted by the Department of National Defense based on “firsthand knowledge.”

“We will investigate on our own. We will do it our way,” Mr. Panelo told reporters in a briefing on Thursday.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr., for his part, agreed with Mr. Panelo’s remarks, saying in a social media post on Thursday: “the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) relies only on official military intelligence; we despise civilian sources.”

He also wrote, “We work hand in glove with the armed forces because war is conduct of diplomacy by other means as diplomacy can be the conduct of war with a measure of finesse.” — Charmaine A. Tadalan with a report from Arjay L. Balinbin

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