Contrary to China’s belief, the trilateral summit held by the Philippines, United States and Japan last week was not a smear campaign and an attack on the Asian superpower, a top security official said Monday, April 15.
National Security Council (NSC) Asst. Director General Jonathan Malaya said the trilateral summit attended by President Marcos, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Washington on April 11 was a restatement of the common policies of the three countries, and it only happened that China was included in the discussion because of its aggressive activities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“We do not understand where this is coming from,” said Malaya, referring to the statement of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesperson Mao Ning over the weekend that the trilateral summit represented nothing but “wanton smears and attacks on China.”
Mao said that the Chinese government launched a protest with the Japanese embassy and Philippine embassy in Beijing to express grave concern and dissatisfaction over the trilateral summit.
But Malaya, who also acts as the spokesperson for the National Task Force for West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), said the three leaders have discussed a wide range of topics during the summit, and only one part of it centered on the security aspect in the South China Sea.
The security aspect involved discussions on the three countries’ commitment to freedom of navigation and overflight, respect to United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2016 arbitral ruling, the rejection of China’s 10-dash line, militarization of features in South China Sea, and dissatisfaction over “illegal, coercive, oppressive and deceptive tactics of China to block and interfere with our operations in Ayungin Shoal.”
“Wala namang bago sa naging statement ng tatlong bansa (There is nothing new on the statement issued by the three countries) and yet the Chinese MOFA considers this as a smear and an attack on China?” Malaya said.
“It really baffles the mind and begs the question, how can the trilateral summit smear and attack the People’s Republic of China when it was simply a re-statement or reiteration of the respect the three countries for the international rules-based order?” he added.
‘Chinese propaganda’
Malaya also accused China of conducting “malign information operation” and “interference operation”, which refer to efforts by individuals online who attempt to influence public opinion by pushing pro-China narratives.
He said the government is “fighting” a two-front battle: first, the malign information operation and interference “both coming from official sources like the Chinese foreign ministry, Chinese defense ministry and other state apparatus,” and second are “local Chinese apologists, propagandists and trolls in the Philippines.”
Citing the case of spokesperson Mao’s statement on the trilateral summit, Malaya said that China typically issues statements to “manipulate information” to their advantage.
“Yes, it has become more difficult to address [it],” Malaya admitted.
“We see no reason why China would consider it as a smear and attack on their country. This is part of the information manipulation, part of malign influence operation of the People’s Republic of China. We wish to set the record straight, the trilateral summit was not intended to smear and attack China. It was not its purpose, it was not meant for any country,” he added.
“A lot of discussions were made during the summit and the topic on rules-based international order was only one part. That issue was the only thing saw by China, which to us is disappointing because as I said, the purpose of the trilateral summit is never to counter China, to smear or attack but merely to shape and restate the policies that bind the three countries together,” he concluded.