Trump administration promises “firm” support for Philippines security | South China Sea News

New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized China’s “dangerous” actions towards the Philippines in the South China Sea.

New US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured Manila of Washington’s “firm” commitment to defending the Philippines in a confrontation Chinese provocation in the South China SeaThis was during his first call with Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo.

Rubio also criticized Beijing’s “dangerous and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea” in a Wednesday call with Manalo, which the top US diplomat said violated international law.

“Secretary Rubio communicated that (China’s) behavior undermines regional peace and stability and is inconsistent with international law,” the State Department said in a statement.

“An armed attack has occurred in the Pacific, including anywhere in the Pacific South China SeaThe State Department noted that “interference with any of their public ships, aircraft or armed forces – including the Coast Guard – would trigger mutual defense obligations.”

Washington and the Philippines, a former US colony, signed a mutual defense treaty in 1951, which stipulates that the two countries will defend each other if they are attacked.

Rubio made the call with his Philippine counterpart a day after holding a four-way meeting with his counterparts in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue from India, Japan and Australia.

In a veiled warning to Beijing, the four-nation diplomatic and security group – known as the Quad – said it supports a “free and open” Indo-Pacific region, “where the rule of law, democratic values, sovereignty and territorial integrity prevail.” Support and defend it.”

“We also strongly oppose any unilateral measures that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion,” they said in a statement.

China has expansionist claims It covers most of the South China Sea, and infringes on the maritime claims of several Southeast Asian countries, including the Philippines.

In 2016, in a dispute brought by Manila against Beijing, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea lacked any legal basis.

The ruling, which Beijing rejected, had little impact on China’s increasingly assertive actions in the disputed maritime region.

Chinese and Filipino ships have been engaged in increasingly tense standoffs over disputed islands, waters and reefs in the region over the past year.

On January 14, the Philippines criticized China for deploying a missile “monster ship” within Manila’s exclusive maritime economic zone, describing the move by the Chinese Coast Guard as alarming and aimed at intimidating fishermen working around the disputed shoal.

“It is an escalation and provocation,” Philippine National Security Council spokesman Jonathan Malaya said at the time, adding that the ship’s presence was “illegal” and “unacceptable.”

In response, the Philippine Navy organized a “sovereignty patrol” with live-fire training near the shoal, followed by joint military exercises with the United States.

That week, the People’s Liberation Army also conducted military combat readiness exercises in the disputed waters.

Scarborough Shoal is one of the hotly contested reef chains in the South China Sea. While China is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, it has de facto control of the shallow waters.