The Philippines and the United States are now beefing up their efforts to protect the Philippine territories against Beijing's incursive activities in the South China Sea as the two sides sounded alarm on the developments in the highly-contested waters.
This developed as Philippine Department of National Defense Officer-in-Charge Carlito Galvez and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, as well as their respective American counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken, all "noted with concern" the recent reports regarding China's continuous and covert land reclamation activities on unoccupied features in the Spratly Islands.
In their joint statement released Wednesday following the conclusion of their high-level talks in Washington, D.C. on April 11 and 12, the four officials rejected Beijing's use of reclamation "as a means of rationalizing or propagating unlawful maritime claims."
They said that such activities are in "direct contravention of the principles outlined in the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," which restrains signatories that include China from doing activities in the waters.
Galvez, Manalo, Blinken and Austin "underlined their strong objections to the unlawful maritime claims, militarization of reclaimed features, and threatening and provocative activities in the South China Sea."
They made the pronouncement amid the recent attempts of China to disrupt the Philippines' lawful operations in the Ayungin Shoal and the repeated massing of its maritime militia vessels at several sites within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The officials then called on China to comply with the 2016 Arbitral Award, which they asserted as "final and legally binding," that validates the Philippines' sovereign rights and jurisdiction with its EEZ and continental shelf, including maritime areas in the vicinity of Reed (Recto) Bank, Mischief (Panganiban) Reef, and Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal.
"Acknowledging that the futures of our countries are not only intertwined with each other's but also that of the region and the rest of the world, the Secretaries reaffirmed their support for unimpeded lawful commerce and full respect for international law, including freedom of navigation and overflight, and other lawful uses of the sea," their statement read.
Defense against armed attack
Manila and Washington are now exploring ways to expand their defense posture against various threats that may arise in different domains, particularly in land, sea, air, space and cyberspace.
The four officials reaffirmed their determination to defend the Philippines against external armed attack in the Pacific, including the South China Sea, in accordance with the seven decade-old Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).
Against the backdrop of the fast implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), Manila and Washington will bolster their planning and interoperability to ensure readiness against a range of crises, according to the officials.
The two nations will also immediately modernize their defense capabilities in the next decade or less and fast-track the discussion on the acquisition of "a fleet of multi-role fighter aircraft" for the Philippine Air Force.
Manila and Washington will also work with other "like-minded" nations to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. This included their commitment to consultations regarding the Australia-United Kingdom- United States (AUKUS) trilateral security partnership as well as counting on Quad’s support for a peaceful and stable, rules-based region with ASEAN at the center.
"Recognizing the importance of the US-Philippines alliance to regional peace and stability, the secretaries put forth a shared vision that supports the international rules-based order, deepens our economic ties, provides for our peoples' broad-based prosperity, and addresses evolving regional and global security challenges," the statement said.