China warns US security adviser against PH support

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – The United States and China traded warnings over actions against and support for the Philippines, as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Beijing’s top envoy, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, on Wednesday, August 28.

In a readout, the White House said Sullivan “expressed concern about the PRC’s destabilizing actions against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea” as he “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to defending its Indo-Pacific allies,” during the meeting with Wang.

The US is a treaty ally of the Philippines, which it once colonized. The Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), among the anchors of bilateral Washington-Manila ties, means both countries are bound to come to each other’s defense in the event of an attack.

Wang, in turn, warned the US against “[using] bilateral treaties as an excuse to undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, nor should it support or condone the Philippines’ actions of infringement,” according to China state-run broadcaster CCTV.

Sullivan and Wang’s meeting is part of larger efforts to maintain communication and ties between the two superpowers following a long-awaited meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping back in November 2023.

The meeting in China comes after weeks of tense incidents and clashes between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea, or parts of the South China Sea that includes the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

In August 2024 alone, Philippine planes and vessels have been subjected to harassment in the form of dangerous manuevers at sea and air, the use of flares against aircraft, collisions at sea, and the China Coast Guard’s liberal use of water cannons to stop Philippine missions to several features in the West Philippine Sea.

China, in turn, has criticized the Philippines for infringing on its rights to features that it claims in the West Philippine Sea.

Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, including parts of the West Philippine Sea, as its own — despite the 2016 Arbitral Award that affirmed the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

Maritime disputes in those waters have been sore points for bilateral relations between the Philippines and China.

Wang’s assertion that the US “supports” or “condones” the Philippines’ actions that “undermine China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” is nothing new.

Other talking heads from Beijing have, in the past, made stronger assertions — that it was Washington that’s been “provoking” the Philippines.

Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Philippines has taken a bolder stance in asserting its sovereign rights in the West Philippines Sea — a dramatic change from former president Rodrigo Duterte, who favored China over traditional partners like the US.

Bilateral ties between Manila and Washington have dramatically improved in the past year or so alone, with top officials of both countries making visits to each other’s side of the world. Manila recently hosted, for the first time, a joint meeting between the foreign affairs and defense ministers of the US and the Philippines. During that meeting, the US announced it was planning to spend $500 million in the Philippines under its Foreign Military Financing program.

Another top American official is in the Philippines for another high-level meeting. Indo-Pacific Command (Indopacom) chief Admiral Samuel Paparo will be meeting with Philippine military chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. for several engagements, capped off by the annual Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board meeting.

On the sidelines of the Indopacom’s Military Law and Operations Conference in Manila, Paparo said he was open to the US escorting the Philippines during missions to the West Philippine Sea. Brawner, however, thumbed down the idea, saying the Philippines’ maritime forces still had options to counter Chinese harassment.

China state-run Global Times reacted to Paparo’s statement, saying it only “[fans] the flames and encourage Manila to make more infringing provocations.” – Rappler.com