The Chinese Embassy on Sunday said the United States was dragging the Philippines into its issues with China by establishing additional military bases in the country and warned that this may “seriously harm” Manila’s national interests and regional peace and stability.
The Chinese Embassy issued the statement after US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson said, in an interview, that she did not believe that Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites would serve as a “magnet” for Chinese “aggressive behavior.”
On the contrary, she said, these sites would help keep people safe.
But the Chinese Embassy countered that Washington was only using the EDCA with Manila for its geopolitical interests and to contain China.
“Peace and development remain the theme of this era and the call of peoples around the world. However, the US, to secure its hegemony and selfish geopolitical interests and out of the cold-war mentality, keeps upgrading military cooperation with the Philippines by addingEDCA bases and military deployment in this country,” the embassy statement said.
“Whereas the US claims that such cooperation is intended to help thedisaster relief efforts of the Philippines and some Americans even tout the EDCA sites as a driver of the local economy, it is plain andsimple that those moves are part of the US efforts to encircle andcontain China through its military alliance with this country,” it added.
Earlier this year, the Department of National Defense announced an agreement with the US to allow American troops access to four more bases in strategic areas of the country.
“To bundle the Philippines into the chariots of geopolitical strifewill seriously harm Philippine national interests and endanger regional peace and stability,” the Chinese Embassy said. It also disputed Carlson’s remark that joint US-Philippine patrols in the South China Sea would be “one important component of making sure that waterways are free and open.”
The Chinese Embassy warned that the patrols would heighten tension anddisturb the efforts of countries to keep the peace and stability in the South China Sea.
The embassy warning comes amid increasingly aggressive Chinese behavior in the South China Sea, including areas well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
China refuses to recognize a decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims and upheld Manila’s rights over its EEZ.
On Sunday, the US embassy reassured Malacanang that the US “commitment to the defense of the Philippines is ironclad.”
US Embassy in Manila spokesman Kanishka Gangopadhyay was commenting on the Chinese Embassy in Manila’s description of the United States as a“bully” that was “ganging up with its allies from other parts of the world to flex muscle in the South China Sea.”
“My only response to the PRC (People’s Republic of China) statement is to repeat what we have said for some time: The United States and the Philippines enjoy an alliance and partnership based on deep historical, economic, and cultural ties, and our shared democratic values,” the spokesman said.
He said the US and the Philippines “stand together as friends, partners, and allies.”
“Now and always, the US commitment to the defense of the Philippinesis ironclad, and we are committed to strengthening our economic and investment relationship,” Gangopadhyay said.
China has consistently opposed the Philippines’ planned expansion of the EDCA, which will add four more military bases that US forces would have access to, in addition to the five existing bases.
In a related development, Dr. Jeffrey Ordaniel, Maritime Security Director for the Pacific Forum, said the Philippines should assert its domain despite the decreased presence of Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea, saying the mere presence of Chinese government ships was a “form of harassment.”