China: US using Manila to block Beijing’s rise
THE Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday accused the United States of dragging the Philippines into its rivalry with China, saying the establishment of four additional military sites in the country under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) may “seriously harm” Manila’s interest and regional peace and stability.
In a statement, the embassy alleged that Washington inked the EDCA not to protect the Philippines but to advance its interest in the Asia Pacific and hold back the rise of China as a superpower.
“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 adding EDCA bases and military deployment in this country,” the embassy said.
“Whereas the US claims that such cooperation is intended to help the disaster relief efforts of the Philippines and some Americans even tout the EDCA sites as driver of local economy, it is plain and simple that those moves are part of the US efforts to encircle and contain China through its military alliance with this country. To bundle the Philippines into the chariots of geopolitical strife will seriously harm Philippine national interests and endanger regional peace and stability,” it said.
It added that amid critical regional post coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recovery efforts, the Philippines should not be “distracted by forces who are fanning the flame and driving a wedge between us (Manila and Beijing), even less inviting a bully into our community.
“Now that China and the Philippines, among other countries of the region, are at a critical juncture of post-COVID recovery, we should keep to the right track of maintaining good-neighborliness and attaining mutual benefit… We need to focus on cooperation and development, and truly safeguard, promote, and build peace, stability, prosperity of our region and bring more tangible benefits to people of our two countries,” the Chinese embassy said.
The embassy’s statement was a response to US Ambassador Mary Kay Carlson’s statement that she did not believe the EDCA would result to more Chinese aggressive behavior and that the EDCA sites would make the Philippines safe.
Manila and Washington have previously announced that four additional EDCA sites would be put up in the Philippines to improve defense ties between the two countries under the administration of President Marcos Jr., following a surly relationship with the Duterte administration which pursued warmer ties with Moscow and Beijing, two of America’s rivals for influence in the Asia Pacific region.
In the same statement, the embassy reiterated its accusation that it was the US that is the source of tension in the South China Sea, instead of China’s activities that Manila and other countries are saying are unsettling the region.
It likewise 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,” as it warned that such a move would only heighten tension and disturb the efforts of countries to keep peace and stability in the disputed waterway.
“On the South China Sea issue, there is no problem of freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. When talking about free and open waterways, what the US has in its mind is actually the freedom of rampage of its warships in the South China Sea,” the embassy said.
It added that the US military has been coming all the way from the other side of the Pacific to “stir up trouble in the South China Sea and ganging up with its allies from other parts of the world to flex muscle in the South China Sea.
“By doing these, the US has not only heightened tension, driven wedge between China and the Philippines, but also has disturbed and upset the joint effort of countries in this region to safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea,” it said.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which $3.4 trillion of goods passes annually, with the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, and Malaysia having overlapping claims.
It has consistently refused to abide by the 2016 ruling of the arbitral tribunal junking its sweeping claim in the South China Sea under the so-called nine-dash line.
