With the Chinese ships accused of blocking the Philippines from accessing the reef, Manilla has responded by flying warplanes over the area, triggering fears in Washington of a potential escalation.
Biden administration officials have said they stand by America’s alliance with the Philippines and would regard any attack on any Philippines territory as covered under the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised the treaty in an early April phone call with Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin. During the call, the two “shared concerns with the massing of [People’s Republic of China] maritime militia vessels in the South China Sea, including at Whitsun Reef,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement at the time.
EU joins U S in criticizing China provocations to the Philippines washingtontimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtontimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Published April 22, 2021, 3:06 PM
Due to the surging COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases at home, President Duterte has decided to stay and is instead sending Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin, Jr. as his Special Envoy to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders’ Meeting on Saturday, April 24, 2021, in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.
(File photo via PNA)
In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Locsin will convey the President’s message on the country’s commitment to ASEAN’s collective efforts in addressing threats and challenges to peace and stability in the region.
The ASEAN leaders meeting comes amid China’s continuous aggressive activities in the West Philippine Sea, most particularly its deployment of over 240 vessels in Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun) and other reefs and islands well within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Water Wars: Chinese Maritime Militia Disperses Amid Political Standoff With the Philippines and the United States
The captain and the executive officer of the USS Mustin (DDG 89) observe Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning (CV 16) in the Philippine Sea on April 4. (Source: U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Arthur Rosen.)
A political standoff between China and the Philippines over a reef in the South China Sea has begun to subside, while Taiwan reacts to a new normal of continuous Chinese military activity around the island nation. In the background of both developments, the Biden administration is coordinating with its treaty allies the Philippines and Japan to confront an aggressive maritime posture from the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. (File photo via PNA)
Locsin made the statement after former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised her concern that the Philippines could become a “subject” of China if it will not stand up to Beijing’s “duplicity and being a bully.”
In a tweet, Locsin assured Clinton that unlike the United States, the Philippines will not let such a thing to happen.
“Don’t worry Ma’am, as I told Asia Society, unlike Americans, we wouldn’t sell our mothers even if they were ‘merchantable, ” he said Friday evening.
“We’re not a nation of shopkeepers. US, in your watch, sold us to China.”