Biden: US defense commitment to Philippines is ironclad

WASHINGTON – The US defense commitment to the Philippines is “ironclad,” President Joe Biden said on Wednesday after a Chinese coast guard ship hit a Philippine vessel in the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal to prevent it from delivering provisions to troops stationed on the beached BRP Sierra Madre last weekend.

“Any attack on Filipino aircraft, vessels or armed forces will invoke our mutual defense treaty with the Philippines,” Biden told reporters.

“I want to be very clear,” he said of the incident that occurred Oct. 22. “The United States defense commitment to the Philippines is ironclad.”

Reacting to Biden’s statement, the Chinese foreign ministry said at a regular press briefing yesterday in Beijing that the US does not have the right to get involved in problems between China and the Philippines.

“The US is not party to the South China Sea issue, it has no right to get involved in a problem between China and the Philippines,” said ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.

“The US promise of defending the Philippines must not hurt China’s sovereignty and maritime interests in the South China Sea, and it also must not enable and encourage the illegal claims of the Philippines,” Mao said.

China and the Philippines recently have had several high-profile skirmishes in the South China Sea, most notably in the waters around the Ayungin Shoal, which is part of the Spratly Islands.

Manila has condemned “in the strongest degree” China’s actions in Ayungin Shoal where its ships made “dangerous blocking maneuvers” that led to one of them hitting a smaller Philippine vessel.

At a joint press briefing, Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese voiced their strong condemnation of China’s destabilizing actions, particularly its “dangerous use of coast guard vessels and maritime militia” in asserting its maritime claims.

The US and Australia share the commitment to upholding international law, including freedom of navigation.

‘Excessive maritime claims’

In a joint leaders’ statement, Biden and Albanese have expressed concern over China’s “excessive maritime claims that are inconsistent with international law.” They also said China’s “unilateral actions” may raise tensions and as well as the “risk of miscalculation in the region.”

“We strongly oppose destabilizing actions in the South China Sea, such as unsafe encounters at sea and in the air, the militarization of disputed features, the dangerous use of coast guard vessels and maritime militia, including to interfere with routine Philippines maritime operations around Second Thomas Shoal, and efforts to disrupt other countries’ offshore resource exploitation,” the statement read.

The leaders said the 2016 South China Sea ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague is final and legally binding on China and the Philippines.

“We emphasize the importance of all States being able to exercise rights and freedoms in a manner consistent with international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, including freedom of navigation and overflight,” the statement read.

At the conference, Biden said Chinese ships “acted dangerously and unlawfully as our Philippine friends conducted a routine resupply mission within their own — their own exclusive economic zone.”

“We want a peaceful and secure region, but we want one as well that’s based upon the rule of law and where national sovereignty, including issues such as the South China Sea and the — the right of passage in that important waterway there — the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait — is respected. And that is Australia’s position,” Albanese said at the same briefing. - AFP