(Eagle News) – United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the US is ready to defend the Philippines in case of any “armed attack” on Philippine forces in the South China Sea.
Pompeo noted that the Philippines as an island nation “depends on a free and undistracted access to the seas” and that China’s “island building and military activities” threatened the country’s sovereignty.
“China’s Island building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security, and therefore economic livelihood as well as that of the United States,” he said during a joint press briefing Friday, March 1, with Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.
“As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack on Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessel in the South China Sea would trigger mutual defense obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defense Treaty,” he said.
The US official said he stresed this in his talk with President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday night, and with Locsin on Friday.
-Locsin: No need for Mutual Defense Treaty upgrade-
During the joint press briefing, Locsin said he saw no need to have an upgrade of the US Mutual Defense Treaty.
“For the time being, (the United States) helping the Philippines build up our self-defense capacity should do it,” he said.
“Ideally mutual defense should cover a partner’s back as well as its front,” Locsin said.
He said that he believed that the treaty need not be revised to go into specifics.
“I don’t believe that going down into the details is the way the sincerity of the American commitment will be shown,” he said.
“In vagueness lies the best deterrence. How do you flesh out that vagueness? In repeated assurances by the United States that in the event an act of aggression is committed against the Philippines…they will respond depending on the circumstances.”
The DFA chief said that he is very confident that the US would do its part under the treaty.
“We are very assured, we are very confident the United States as in the words of Secretary Pompeo and the words of President Trump to our President: ‘We have your back,’” Locsin said.
-Deepening US-PHL alliance-
He said both he and Pompeo also agreed that it was in both countries’ interest “to ensure the alliance effectively address other non-traditional security issues such as humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and above-all the fight against human trafficking.”
Locsin said that they also talked about deepening and expanding bilateral economic relations “including pursuing negotiations for a future free trade agreement.”
Both Locsin and Pompeo stressed the importance of maintaining the US-Philippine alliance which is the “longest standing alliance in Asia.”
“We share the view that the alliance must be able to ensure the unfailing mutual defense of our two countries, an arrangement that has contributed to regional peace, freedom, stability and prosperity since it was formalized,” Locsin said.
-Pompeo: South China Sea should remain open-
Pompeo, for his part, said that the US is interested in making sure that the South China Sea “remain open for freedom of navigation.”
“Our commitments under the treaty are clear. Our obligations are real. The South China Sea is certainly part of an important body of water for freedom of navigation.”
He said that the South China Sea is a vital economic sea lane which should also be open for commercial transit.
Pompeo stressed that this is also their commitment to other nations in the region “so that these incredibly vital economic sea lanes are open and China does not pose a threat to closing them down.”
(Eagle News Service)
