Philippines says Asean remains soft on China over maritime row, risks irrelevance

Philippine defence chief Gilberto Teodoro also calls for alignment of Manila’s operations and the Mutual Defence Treaty to counter China

South China Sea

SCMP’s Asia desk

Published: 5:25pm, 28 Aug 2024

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Philippine defence chief Gilberto Teodoro has warned Asean could risk losing its relevance if it continued to go soft on Beijing’s aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea, as he urged the bloc to do more to defuse the long-running maritime tensions.

Teodoro said Manila and its security partners need to move beyond issuing statements condemning China and devise a strategy to counter the Asian giant in the resource-rich waterway.

“We have to tailor our operations to include our [Mutual Defence Treaty] to meet this dynamism,” he told a defence forum in Manila on Tuesday, referring to the pact binding Washington and Manila to come to each other’s aid in times of aggression by an external power.

Chinese and Philippine ships have been involved in a series of escalating confrontations in the disputed waters in recent months, including a collision last Sunday near Sabina Shoal, an atoll claimed by both sides but controlled by neither.

China said it took “control measures” against two Philippine coastguard ships that had entered waters close to the shoal.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, a spokesman for the coastguard, said the mission was abandoned due to Beijing’s “excessive” deployment of vessels and rough sea conditions.

Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro speaking at a conference in Manila. Photo: AP

Teodoro also sought robust international support for the Philippines, which has deepened military ties with the United States after President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr took office in 2022.

“The antidote is a stronger collective multilateral action against China. And that is for our diplomats and other responsible officials to determine,” he said, according to a report by the Rappler news website.

Manila has held joint patrols with the US, Japan and Australia in the South China Sea as part of efforts to uphold freedom of navigation.

While the US, EU and other allies like South Korea and Britain have repeatedly denounced China, Teodoro said members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations maintained an ambivalent stance on the issue.

He added “we are getting some consensus” but merely calling out Beijing’s maritime behaviour was “not enough”.

“Asean, to remain relevant and credible, cannot continue to ignore what China is doing in the South China Sea,” he said.

The Philippine and Vietnamese coastguards conducted their first joint drills off Manila earlier this month in the face of increasing tensions with China.

02:40

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In June, the two countries also agreed to hold talks on settling their overlapping claims to the undersea continental shelf in the South China Sea.

Teodoro said his Vietnamese counterpart Phan Van Giang will visit Manila on Friday to sign defence cooperation agreements.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the whole of the South China Sea – where the Philippines and fellow Asean states Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims. It has rejected a 2016 international arbitral tribunal’s decision that found China’s territorial claims in the maritime area had no legal basis and ruled in favour of Manila.

Teodoro suggested a United Nations Security Council resolution denouncing China could restore calm in the hotly contested waters but acknowledged the measure was easier said than done.

“Naturally, if you could ask me three wishes, it would be a Security Council or a resolution condemning China and ordering it to stop. But the world is not that perfect,” he said.

The US, China, France, Russia and the UK are the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and any of them can veto a resolution.