MANILA, Philippines (AP) – The U.S. military is open to consultations on escorting Philippine ships in the disputed South China Sea, the head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Tuesday amid an increase in hostilities between Beijing and Manila in the disputed waters.
Admiral Samuel Paparo’s remarks, made in response to a question during a press conference in Manila with Philippine Armed Forces Commander General Romeo Brawner Jr., offered a glimpse into the thinking of one of the highest-ranking American military commanders outside the U.S. mainland regarding a planned operation that could involve direct collisions between U.S. Navy ships and those of China.
Ships from China’s coast guard, navy and suspected militias regularly clash with Philippine vessels when trying to supply Filipino sailors stationed in parts of the South China Sea claimed by both countries. As these clashes become increasingly violent, leaving Filipino sailors injured and their vessels damaged, the Philippine government faces the question of whether to invoke an alliance with Washington.
Paparo and Brawner spoke to reporters after an international military conference in Manila organized by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command that focused on China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea. Military and defense officials and diplomats from the U.S. and allied countries attended, but Chinese representatives were not present.
When asked whether the U.S. military would consider escorting Philippine ships delivering food and other supplies to Philippine forces in the South China Sea, Paparo replied: “Sure, within the framework of consultations.”
“Any option between the two sovereign nations in terms of our mutual defense, escorting one ship to the other, is a perfectly reasonable option within the framework of our mutual defense treaty and this close alliance between the two of us,” Paparo said, without elaborating.
Brawner reacted cautiously to the proposal, which could violate Philippine laws, including a constitutional ban on direct involvement of foreign forces in local hostilities.
“The attitude of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as prescribed by Philippine law, is that we rely on ourselves first,” Brawner said. “We will try all options and all avenues available to us to accomplish the mission … in this case, resupplying and rotating our forces.”
“We will then look for other options if we are already prevented from doing it ourselves,” Brawner said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said there had been no situation to date that would justify activating the treaty, which obliges allies to come to each other’s aid in the event of an external attack.
President Joe Biden and his administration have renewed several times its “ironclad” commitment to assist in the defense of the Philippines if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft are subjected to armed attack, including in the South China Sea, in accordance with the 1951 treaty.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. told the conference that China was the “biggest troublemaker” in Southeast Asia and called for stronger international criticism of China’s aggression in the South China Sea. This came a day after China blocked Philippine ships from delivering food to a coast guard vessel in the disputed Sabina Reef.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said China could never be accused of undermining peace, blaming unnamed other actors for “committing violations and provocations in the South China Sea and using external forces to undermine peace and stability in the region as a whole.”
Teodoro later told reporters on the sidelines of the conference that international expressions of concern about China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the disputed waters and elsewhere were “not enough.”
“The antidote is stronger collective multilateral action against China,” Teodoro said, adding that while a UN Security Council resolution would be a strong step, it was unlikely given China’s veto in the Security Council.
He also called for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations more to do. The 10-nation Southeast Asian bloc includes the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, whose claims to the South China Sea overlap with each other and with those of China and Taiwan.
“To remain relevant and credible, ASEAN cannot continue to ignore what China is doing in the South China Sea,” Teodoro said.
In the wake of the recent incident in the South China Sea, Philippine officials said China deployed an “excessive force” of 40 vessels that prevented two Philippine ships from delivering food and other supplies to Manila’s largest coast guard vessel in the Sabina Reef on Monday.
China and the Philippines blamed each other for the confrontation in Sabina, an uninhabited atoll claimed by both countries that has become the latest flashpoint in the Spratly Islands, the most hotly disputed region in the South China Sea.
China and the Philippines have each independently sent coast guard ships to Sabina in recent months because they suspect that the other side might try to take control of the fishing atoll and build structures there.
The Philippine Coast Guard said Chinese Coast Guard and Navy vessels and 31 suspected militia vessels obstructed the delivery. The shipment also included an ice cream for the crew of the BRP Teresa Magbanua as the Philippines observed National Heroes Day on Monday.
In Beijing, the Chinese coast guard said it had taken control measures against two Philippine coast guard vessels that had “intruded” into waters near the Sabina Reef. In a statement, it said the Philippine vessels had escalated the situation by repeatedly approaching a Chinese coast guard vessel.
China has rapidly expanded its military and increasingly asserted its territorial claims in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually all of. Tensions have led to more frequent confrontations, most notably with the Philippines, although the long-standing territorial disputes also involve other claimants, including Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
The Japanese government also protested to Beijing on Tuesday, saying a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft had violated its airspace and forced it to alert fighter jets.
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Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila in Manila, Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.
