By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Beatriz Marie D. Cruz, Reporters

CHINA’S PROPOSAL to hold joint military exercises with the Philippines appears to be an attempt to boost its public image after its increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea drew international backlash, geopolitical analysts said on Thursday.

Its failure to heed international law casts doubt on its intentions, Don Mclain Gill, who teaches foreign relations at De La Salle University in Manila, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.

“Conducting such exercises with China will neither result in an improvement of trust nor the deepening of strategic ties due to Beijing’s uncompromisable regional ambitions,” he added.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.

The United States and the European Union have asked China to follow a rule-based international order and honor a 2016 arbitral ruling for the Philippines that voided its claim to more than 80% of the disputed waterway.

China’s proposal is merely “centered on improving public opinion” amid its continuing assertiveness within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea, Mr. Gill said. “It’s similar to the good visit conducted a few months back.”

In late April, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang met with President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. in Manila, where they agreed to establish more “lines of communications.”

But a near-collision incident between a Chinese Coast Guard ship and a Philippine patrol vessel carrying journalists happened a day after the meeting.

“The defense establishment continues to be wary of the increasing challenges China creates for Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights,” Mr. Gill said. “In fact, even during the time of ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte, who was largely accommodating of Beijing, such an idea was also floated but never materialized.”

Party-list Rep. Arlene A. Brosas said pursuing military exercises with China could compromise the Philippine sovereignty and “perpetuate the unequal power dynamics in the region.”

“Given the ongoing territorial disputes and the history of tensions in the region, we cannot allow these proposed military exercises to prosper,” she said in a statement.

The continued presence of Chinese vessels within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea has complicated their relations, “creating a hostile environment,” she added.

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian made the informal proposal to the Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner, Jr. at the 96^th People’s Liberation Army anniversary celebration near the Philippine capital on July 26.

A day after the event, the military chief said he was not ruling out military exercises with China. “Our prospect according to our President is that we are friends to all, enemies to none,” he told DZBB radio.

‘MILITARY DIPLOMACY’
Mr. Brawner Jr. said the government was also not closing its doors to the possibility of having joint drills with Vietnam, which also claims parts of the South China Sea.

Lucio B. Pitlo III, a research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation, cited China’s growing military diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region. He cited China’s bilateral exercises with Cambodia and with Singapore in April and with Laos in May.

China is also preparing for an unprecedented six-nation multilateral exercise with Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in October, he added.

“This shows that despite disputes over the Mekong River or the South China Sea, Southeast Asian countries remain open to engage China in the security sphere,” he said via Messenger chat.

Mr. Pitlo said China’s joint drills with South China Sea littorals might “focus more on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and search and rescue operations.”

Chester B. Cabalza, founder of the Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation, said China should be allowed to have defense partnerships with the Philippines “as long as Filipino leaders and the military will remain vigilant and will not compromise our sovereignty rights.”

“The military drills with foreign powers should extend to nontraditional partners and not just defense treaty allies,” he said in a Messenger chat, citing the President’s push for the Philippines to become a “friend to all and an enemy to none.”

As a middle power in the region, the Philippines should be able to “bridge differences” if it is aligned with its interests, Mr. Cabalza said.  “If it happens, perhaps the Philippines will play its role as a broker of regional peace and order courtesy of our geographic importance.”

He said China and the Philippines as well as other South China Sea claimants should learn to co-exist in the waterway “to further de-escalate tensions in the Indo-Pacific region.”

The Philippines should “strike a balance” in relations with the US and China, Rommel C. Banlaoi, chairman of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, told a separate briefing, noting that the country’s military relationship “is weakest with China, but strongest with the US.”

Robin Michael R. Garcia, who teaches political economy at the University of Asia and the Pacific, said the US and China should reassure each other about the absence of threats.

“As China tries to strengthen its economy and security, the US and other countries find it threatening, and as the US also strengthens its position [in the South China Sea], China finds that threatening,” he said.