US Coast Guard cutter Munro (WMSL-755) in the foreground, with Philippine Coast Guard ships including BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV-8301, at center L) during a joint maritime exercise in the waters off Subic Bay (AFP file photo)
Manila: The Philippines’ defense chief said on Thursday that US and Philippine military officials have held preliminary talks to assess the future of their countries’ 70-year mutual defense treaty, revising it in a possible move that cautions China. includes doing.
The 1951 treaty commits the United States and the Philippines to assist the other in case of attack. US officials have repeatedly assured their Philippine counterparts that they will honor their treaty obligations if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft are attacked in the disputed South China Sea, including China.
Defense Secretary Delphine Lorenzana said the treaty could be repealed, changed or amended after several decades. The Treaty Alliance is America’s oldest in Asia.
“Preliminary discussions have been held between officials of the two armies to achieve some consensus on how to proceed,” Lorenzana said in remarks videotaped to an online forum discussing issues related to the treaty.
“While the US welcomes the idea of revisiting the MDT, an outside party does not. When I first thought of revisiting the MDT, the former Chinese ambassador came up to me and said, ‘Please refer to the MDT. Don’t touch, leave it like that. That’s it,'” Lorenzana said without elaborating.
A Philippine diplomat has told The Associated Press that China may be concerned about the Philippines and that US officials may insert provisions that could threaten Beijing’s security interests if the treaty is amended. They may recognize, for example, that a 2016 international arbitration ruling invalidated China’s vast territorial claims in the South China Sea on historical grounds, said the diplomat, who has been denied the right to speak publicly. The reason spoke on condition of anonymity.
China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei, are locked in a tense standoff over territorial disputes along the busy waterway. There are fears that long-running disputes could spark a war that could wreck bustling economies in Asia and beyond.
Lorenzana said there have been suggestions to modify the treaty to address current regional security concerns, including the use of civilian militias instead of military forces by China to seize areas in disputed waters to avoid a military conflict. is done, which may give a reason to the US and the Philippines. Activate their pact.
Chinese embassy officials did not immediately respond to Lorenzana’s remarks. China has warned the US not to interfere with what it is saying, a purely Asian dispute that governments in the region are trying to resolve peacefully through dialogue.
Washington makes no claims in the disputed waters, but has declared that freedom of navigation and overflight in the disputed waterways as well as peaceful settlement of disputes is in its national interest.
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