By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter
The United States would not hesitate to intervene if China attacks Philippine vessels in the South China Sea, President Joseph R. Biden said on Thursday, days after ships from the two Asian nations collided near Second Thomas Shoal.
“I want to be clear – I want to be very clear: The United States’ defense commitment to the Philippines is ironclad,” he said in a joint press briefing with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Washington D.C., based on a transcript from the White House.
The US President said Chinese vessels had “acted dangerously and unlawfully” as the Philippines conducted a resupply mission “within their own exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.”
“Any attack on Filipino aircraft, vessels or armed forces will invoke… our Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines,” he said, referring to the agreement signed in 1951 that compels both countries to defend each other in case of an armed attack.
“The US is not a party to the South China Sea issue and has no right to interfere in the issue between China and the Philippines,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a news briefing.
“The US defense commitment to the Philippines should not undermine China’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in South China Sea, nor should it support the illegal claims of the Philippines,” she added.
Second Thomas Shoal is about 200 kilometers from the Philippines’ Palawan island, and more than 1,000 kilometers from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan island.
Chinese ships on Sunday collided with Philippine vessels trying to deliver food and other supplies to BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era ship that Manila deliberately grounded in 1999 to assert its sovereignty claim.
The Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest against China, accusing its coast guard of “dangerous, illegal and reckless maneuvers” that caused the collision.
The rusting vessel, which the Philippine government plans to restore, has been a source of tension this year between Manila and Beijing, which fired water cannons at Philippine vessels that were on a resupply mission on Aug. 5.
Political analysts have said BRP Sierra Madre has been crucial in preserving the status quo in the South China Sea, with China fearing an activation of the Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty.
In their joint statement, Mr. Biden and Mr. Albanese, who is in the US for a state visit, reiterated their countries’ opposition to China’s “destablizing actions” in the South China Sea.
Such actions include “unsafe encounters at sea and in the air, the militarization of disputed features, the dangerous use of coast guard vessels and maritime militia, including interfering with routine Philippine maritime operations around Second Thomas Shoal, and efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation.”
Unaizah Mae 2, one of the two boats contracted by the AFP for the Oct. 22 resupply mission, was damaged after it collided with a much larger China Coast Guard vessel.
‘RISK OF MISCALCULATION’
While escorting Unaizah Mae 2, the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) BRP Cabra also collided with a Chinese maritime militia ship that had blocked it from accompanying the resupply boat.
Five Chinese Coast Guard ships “participated in the shadowing, dangerous maneuvers, and blocking” of the mission, while eight Chinese maritime militia vessels helped block the resupply contingent, PCG spokesman Jay Tristan Tarriela said on Monday.
The two leaders noted their support for the 2016 arbitral award that voided China’s claim to more than 80% of the waterway.
“We are concerned about China’s excessive maritime claims that are inconsistent with international law, as well as unilateral actions that may raise tensions and increase the risk of miscalculation in the region,” they said, vowing to work with their partners to support regional maritime security and uphold international law.
American legislators have also condemned the “unlawful actions” of the Chinese Coast Guard.
In a statement on Wednesday, ranking members of the US House foreign affairs committee and subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific welcomed the Biden government’s plan to increase joint patrols with the Philippines and other partners in the South China Sea.
They also welcomed the US government’s vow to “uphold its commitment under the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.”
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has pursued closer ties with the US, giving it access to four more military bases on top of the five existing sites under their 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.
During his visit to Washington in May, the two countries through their Defense chiefs agreed on new guidelines for the Mutual Defense Treaty, including a provision that could be invoked if either of the two countries is attacked in the South China Sea.
The rules also cited modern forms of warfare including “grey zone tactics,” which China has allegedly been using to assert its claims. But the guidelines did not mention Beijing.
“Recognizing that threats may arise in several domains — including land, sea, air, space and cyber-space — and take the form of asymmetric, hybrid and irregular warfare and grey-zone tactics, the guidelines chart a way forward to build interoperability in both conventional and nonconventional domains,” the Pentagon said in the fact sheet.
