Recently appointed Indo-Pacific Command commander Admiral Sam Paparo visited Manila on Tuesday to show solidarity with the Philippines, one of America’s oldest treaty allies in Asia, telling reporters his command is ready to help the Philippines navigate regions that regularly experience Chinese interference.
“Certainly, within the framework of consultations,” Paparo said when asked if the U.S. Navy could escort Philippine ships in the South China Sea. “Any option between the two sovereign nations in terms of our mutual defense, escorting one ship to the other, is a completely reasonable option within the framework of our mutual defense treaty and this close alliance between the two of us.”
China regularly harasses the Philippine Coast Guard and Filipino fishermen at three locations in the Spratly Islands, all of which are within the 200-mile limit of the Philippine exclusive economic zone. In recent clashes, the Chinese Coast Guard has rammed Philippine military vessels, used water cannon on Philippine supply boats, threatened personnel with knives and axes, and injured several Filipino soldiers while carrying out their official duties. A Filipino soldier lost a thumb in a Chinese Coast Guard ramming incident at Second Thomas Shoal in June.
The Philippines would still prefer to counter ongoing Chinese aggression with domestic means, Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., commander of the Philippine Armed Forces, said at the same news conference. “The attitude of the Philippine Armed Forces, as prescribed by Philippine law, is that we rely on ourselves first,” Brawner stressed to AP.
Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, including the exclusive economic zones of other littoral states. Chinese academics and government officials claim that the history of Chinese trade in the region means a right to control the Chinese waterway today. The US government and littoral states in the region have rejected this argument, as has the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
“The People’s Republic of China is making absurdly large seabed claims that defy all logic and affect not only the Republic of the Philippines but every state in the South China Sea,” Admiral Paparo said at a conference in Hawaii this month.
Hardly any country openly supports China’s far-reaching demands, many remain silent. The ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has neither taken a position nor condemned the increasingly aggressive interventions by the Chinese coast guard in the Philippine EEZ. At the conference on Tuesday, the top Philippine defense official said this lack of clarity undermines ASEAN’s authority.
“To remain relevant and credible, ASEAN cannot continue to ignore what China is doing in the South China Sea,” said Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
