Defense chief calls for measures to avoid war over sea dispute
WITH THE “seismic geopolitical shift” in international relations, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana said tensions between countries must be addressed to avoid “sleepwalking into another international conflict.” “The consequence of such seismic geopolitical shift is a troubling form of ‘superpower rivalry,’ which has now extended, to the anxiety of many in the region, even to the realm of trade, investment and cyberspace,” said Mr. Lorenzana during the 18th Asia Security Summit at Singapore over the weekend. “With the untethering of our networks of economic interdependence, comes growing risk of confrontation that could lead to war. Our greatest fear, therefore, is the possibility of sleepwalking into another international conflict like WW1,” he said. The Defense chief called on actors in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Philippines, to do their best to manage tensions and avoid reckless miscalculations. “And this is where it’s crucial for us, all of us, to continue institutionalizing, upgrading, and expanding a whole range of Confidence-Building Measures, which could help major powers find an optimal set of mechanisms for conflict-avoidance. War benefits no one. Avoiding it is everyone’s shared responsibility,” he said. — Vince Angelo C. Ferreras
