Manila, Philippines — The U.S. military is open to the possibility of escorting Philippine ships in the disputed South China Sea, subject to consultations under the allies’ 1951 mutual defense treaty, the head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Tuesday, amid a surge in hostilities between Beijing and Manila in the disputed waters.
Adm. Samuel Paparo’s remarks, which he made in response to a question at a news conference in Manila with Philippine Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., offered a glimpse into the mindset of one of the most senior U.S. military commanders outside the U.S. mainland about a potential operation that could put U.S. Navy ships in direct collision with those of China.
Chinese coast guard, navy and suspected militia vessels have regularly clashed with Philippine coast guard and navy vessels as they attempt to resupply Filipino sailors stationed at remote sites claimed by both countries. These clashes in the South China Sea have become increasingly hostile, resulting in injuries to Philippine forces and damage to their vessels.
In June, the White House condemned China for what the Philippines called an “intentional high-speed ramming” by a Chinese coast guard vessel of a supply ship in the area, which left a Filipino sailor seriously injured.
“This kind of behavior [by China] “It’s provocative, it’s reckless, it’s unnecessary and it could lead to misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to something much bigger and much more violent,” the U.S. National Security Council spokesman said. John Kirby said.
The Philippine government had to consider whether to invoke its treaty alliance with Washington.
Paparo and Brawner spoke to reporters after an international military conference in Manila hosted by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command that highlighted China’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea. Military and defense officials and diplomats from the United States and allied countries were present, but no Chinese representatives were present.
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 said: “Certainly, through consultations.”
“Every option between the two sovereign nations in terms of our mutual defense, the escort of one ship to another, is a perfectly reasonable option within the framework of our mutual defense treaty, within this close alliance between the two of us,” Paparo said without elaborating.
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Brawner responded cautiously to the suggestion, which could conflict with Philippine laws, including a constitutional ban on foreign forces directly joining local combat operations.
“The attitude of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, as dictated by Philippine law, is that we have to rely on ourselves first,” Brawner said. “We’re going to try every option, every avenue that’s available to us to accomplish the mission … in this case, resupply and rotation of our troops.”
“We will then look for other options when we are already forced to do it ourselves,” Brawner said.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said there was no situation so far that would justify activating the treaty, which obliges allies to come to the aid of each other if it is the victim of an external attack.
President Biden and his administration have repeatedly renewed their “ironclad” commitment to help defend the Philippines under the 1951 treaty if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under armed attack, including in the South China Sea.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. told the conference that China was “the biggest disruptor” of peace in Southeast Asia and called for stronger international censure over its aggression in the South China Sea, a day after China blocked Philippine ships from delivering food to a coast guard vessel in the disputed Sabina Shoal in disputed waters.
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Teodoro later told reporters on the sidelines of the conference that international statements expressing concern over China’s increasingly assertive actions in disputed waters and elsewhere were “not enough.”
“The antidote is stronger collective multilateral action against China,” Teodoro said, adding that diplomats and defense officials should determine those stronger measures.
Pressed by reporters to be more specific, Teodoro said a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning and ordering a halt to China’s aggressive actions would be an important step, but acknowledged the difficulty of achieving it. “The world is not that perfect,” he said.
China, like its geopolitical rival the United States, is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and has the power to veto such a hostile measure.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been paying “attention” to China’s aggressive actions but should do much more, Teodoro said. The 10-nation Southeast Asian bloc includes the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, which have overlapping claims to the South China Sea, as well as China and Malaysia’s claims to the South China Sea. Taiwan‘s.
“ASEAN, to remain relevant and credible, cannot continue to ignore what China is doing in the South China Sea,” Teodoro said.
In the latest incident in the South China Sea, Philippine officials said China deployed “excessive force” of 40 ships that prevented two Philippine vessels from delivering food and other supplies to Manila’s largest coast guard vessel at Sabina Shoal on Monday.
China and the Philippines have accused each other of responsibility for the standoff in Sabina, an uninhabited atoll that both countries claim has become the last remaining flashpoint in the Pacific Ocean. The Spratlys, the most disputed region from the South China Sea.
China and the Philippines have separately deployed coast guard vessels to Sabina in recent months, suspecting that the other might move to seize control and build structures on the fishing atoll. CBS News visited one of the Spratly Islands in 2015, and Philippine officials noted that new islands were literally rising out of the sea as China dumped massive amounts of sand and soil into the water. Even then, nearly a decade ago, China has created about 2,000 hectares of new artificial islands in the disputed waters, and an airstrip was taking shape on one of them.
The Philippine Coast Guard said Chinese Coast Guard and Navy vessels, along with 31 suspected militia vessels, illegally obstructed the delivery Monday, which included ice cream for personnel aboard the BRP Teresa Magbanua as the Philippines celebrated National Heroes Day.
The Philippine Coast Guard said it “remains steadfast in its commitment to defending national interests and ensuring the safety and security of our waters” and urged “the Chinese Coast Guard to respect international law and cease deploying maritime forces that could undermine mutual respect, a universally recognized foundation for responsible and friendly coast guard relations.”
In Beijing, the Chinese Coast Guard said it had taken control measures against two Philippine Coast Guard vessels that “entered” waters near Sabina Bank. It said in a statement that the Philippine vessels had escalated the situation by repeatedly approaching a Chinese Coast Guard vessel. The Chinese Coast Guard did not specify what control measures it had taken.
China has rapidly expanded its military and asserted territorial claims in the South China Sea, which it claims almost all of. The tensions have led to more frequent confrontations, primarily with the Philippines, although long-running territorial disputes also involve other claimants, including Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.
The Japanese government separately protested to Beijing on Tuesday, saying a Chinese reconnaissance plane had violated its airspace and forced it to send fighter jets.
