PH, US, JAPAN, AUSTRALIA DEFENSE CHIEFS SLAM CHINA'S 'DANGEROUS USE' OF VESSELS

The defense chiefs of the Philippines, United States, Japan, and Australia on Saturday issued a joint statement deploring China's "dangerous use" of coast guard and militia vessels as territorial tensions continue to rise in the West Philippine Sea.

The statement was released following the second-ever meeting of the defense leaders on May 2 in Hawaii, attended by Gilbert Teodoro of the Philippines, Lloyd Austin of the United States, Minoru Kihara of Japan, and Richard Marles of Australia.

"The Ministers and Secretaries expressed serious concern about the situation in the East and South China Seas. They strongly objected to the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea," the statement read.

The development also comes less than a week after the China Coast Guard (CCG) fired water cannons on Philippine civilian vessels en route to Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc for a supply mission.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) had said that the water pressure used by the Chinese could be "fatal."

The defense leaders also "reiterated serious concern" over China's "repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels' exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and the disruption of supply lines to Second Thomas Shoal, which constitute dangerous and destabilizing conduct."

Second Thomas Shoal is known locally as Ayungin Shoal, where the BRP Sierra Madre has been aground since 1999 to serve as an outpost for Philippine forces.

Bringing supplies to troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre, as well as fuel and food to fishermen in other contested sites such as Scarborough Shoal, have become increasingly difficult as China vessels have repeatedly blocked and impeded the voyage of Philippine ships.

"The Ministers and Secretaries emphasized the importance of upholding freedoms of navigation and overflight, and respect for international law, as reflected particularly in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)," the statement read.

"They called upon the PRC to abide by the final and legally binding 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal Award and resolved to work together to support states exercising their rights and freedoms in the South China Sea," it added.

GMA News Online has sought comment from the Chinese Embassy in Manila regarding the matter, but has yet to provide a response as of posting time.

Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity

The four countries conducted their first Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA) in the West Philippine Sea on April 7, in line with their commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation.

Teodoro, Austin, Minoru, and Marles, in an statement ahead of the MMCA, reaffirmed their nations' position that 2016 tribunal award was "a final and legally binding decision on the parties to the dispute."

In the statement on Saturday, the leaders "emphasized their commitment to strengthen cooperation in support of regional security and stability" following the conduct of the MMCA.

Multilateral defense cooperation among the four countries "is growing stronger than ever," they said.

During the meeting, the statement read, the defense leaders tackled opportunities to further advance defense cooperation, including continued maritime cooperation in the South China Sea, enhanced procedures to enable coordination and information sharing arrangements, and strengthening capacity building.

Mutual Defense Treaty

Meanwhile, in a press briefing in Hawaii following the May 2 meeting, Teodoro said he would not speculate on the conditions when the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the United States might be invoked amid the territorial dispute with China, stressing that would be a "political decision... principally by the Philippine government."

For his part, Austin said the MDT is not subject to hypothetical scenarios. He also said that the damage to Philippines vessels and injuries to Filipino crew members was "irresponsible behavior."

"Filipino crew members are put in danger, sailors have been injured...and property damage. That is irresponsible behavior. It disregards international law. I would not get into any hypotheticals on what could happen and how it could happen. What I could say is that you heard me say, you heard what the President [Joe Biden] said a number of times: that our commitment to the treaty (MDT) is ironclad and we stand with the Philippines," Austin said.

Under the MDT between Manila and Washington, each party "recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the Parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its constitutional processes."

Likewise, the MDT provides that "an armed attack on either of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack on the metropolitan territory of either of the Parties, or on the Island territories under its jurisdiction in the Pacific Ocean, its armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific." — VDV, GMA Integrated News

This article PH, US, Japan, Australia defense chiefs slam China's 'dangerous use' of vessels was originally published in GMA News Online.

2024-05-04T08:04:16Z dg43tfdfdgfd