U.S., Philippine Defense Secretaries Discuss Measures Regarding Incursion of Chinese Ships

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Filipino counterpart Delfin Lorenzana on Saturday raised concerns and possible measures regarding the concentration of Chinese ships in the South China Sea.

In a statement released by the US Department of Defense, the US country underscored its commitment to the Philippines and its interest in “maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific” and “rooted in international law.”

Likewise, the statement notes that the US secretary has proposed “various measures to deepen defense cooperation” between the two parties and referred to the fact that they are specifically seeking to improve the situation in the face of “threats” at sea. Southern China.

From In the Philippines, a statement was also issued in which they endorse this cooperation and engagement “with the Mutual Defense Treaty which involves the inherent right of both states to self-defense, individually and collectively.”

Likewise, the Philippines argued that the justification for the incursion of Chinese ships into this area implies “an absolute disregard” of international law and that “the allegations of the Philippines have a solid basis”, unlike the Chinese.

For years, China has had a territorial dispute with Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines over several islands in the South China Sea. Significant oil reserves have been discovered on the continental shelf of these islands, particularly in Xisha (Paracel Islands), Nansha (Spratly Islands) and Huangyan (Scarborough Reef) Islands.

The Secretary of State of the United States, Antony blink, and his Filipino counterpart, Teodor Locsin, expressed in a telephone conversation their “common concerns” about the concentration of “Chinese maritime militia ships” in the South China Sea.

This was pointed out by the State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, who clarified that Blinken and the Philippine foreign minister warned against the Pentecostal Reef concentration.

“Both reiterated their call for Beijing to comply with the 2016 arbitration award issued under the Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Price said.

Blinken also reaffirmed the applicability of the 1951 US-Philippine Mutual Defense Treaty. to the South China Sea.

Likewise, the two sides welcomed “enhanced bilateral and multilateral cooperation” in the region, the spokesperson said.

The United States has increased its military presence in the South China Sea, in the middle of the Beijing’s increasingly aggressive maneuvers in this strategic area of ​​the Indo-Pacific.

(With information from Europa Press)

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