New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized China’s “dangerous” actions against the Philippines in the South China Sea.
New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reassures Manila of Washington’s “ironclad” determination to defend the Philippines in the face of Chinese provocations in the South China Sea in his first telephone conversation with Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo. I guaranteed it.
Rubio also criticized Beijing’s “dangerous and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea” in a phone call with Manalo on Wednesday, which the top US diplomat said violated international law. Ta.
“Secretary Rubio advised that (China’s) actions undermine regional peace and stability and violate international law,” the State Department said in a statement.
“Mutual defense commitments would be triggered if either country’s public vessels, aircraft, or military forces, including coast guards, were attacked in the Pacific Ocean, including the South China Sea,” the State Department said.
Washington and the former U.S. colony the Philippines signed a mutual defense treaty in 1951, stipulating that the two countries would defend each other in the face of attack.
Mr. Rubio held a telephone conversation with his Philippine counterpart a day after holding four-way talks with officials from the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue from India, Japan, and Australia.
In a thinly veiled warning to the Chinese government, the four-nation diplomatic and security group known as the Quad said: He said he supports the Indo-Pacific region. Supported and defended. ”
“We also strongly oppose any unilateral action that seeks to change the status quo through force or coercion,” they said in a statement.
China has extensive territorial claims covering much of the South China Sea, infringing on the maritime rights and interests of several Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines.
In 2016, in a dispute brought by Manila against China, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea had no legal basis.
Although the ruling was rejected by the Chinese government, it has had little effect on China’s increasing assertiveness in the disputed waters.
Tensions between Chinese and Philippine ships have escalated over the past year over disputed islands, waters and reefs in the region.
On January 14, the Philippines criticized China for deploying a “monster ship” within Manila’s exclusive maritime economic zone, saying the Chinese coast guard’s move was alarming and threatening fishermen operating around disputed shoals. He claimed that he intended to intimidate.
“This is an escalation and a provocation,” Philippine National Security Council spokesman Jonathan Malaya said at the time, adding that the ship’s presence was “illegal” and “unacceptable.”
In response, the Philippine Navy conducted a “sovereignty patrol” with live-fire exercises near shallow waters, and later conducted joint military exercises with the United States.
That week, the People’s Liberation Army of China also conducted military combat readiness exercises in the disputed waters.
Scarborough Shoal is one of a series of hotly debated coral reefs in the South China Sea. China has de facto control of the reef, although it is located within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).