After the trilateral summit among the leaders of the United States, Philippines and Japan the other week in Washington D.C., Chinese officials insisted China has sovereign rights over most of the South China Sea and cautioned the US and its allies to respect its sovereignty.
Yesterday, Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Military Commission, took a harsh line on regional territorial disputes, telling an international naval gathering in northeastern China on Monday that the country would strike back with force if its interest came under threat.
Chinese Defense Minister Admiral Dong Jun talked with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin early this week to relay Beijing’s appeal to Washington to respect China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights in the South China Sea and to stress that China would not compromise on the Taiwan issue.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday sounded a softer tone, saying the South Pacific region should not become an arena for major power rivalries and that its assistance to countries there is free of political conditions.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday, in a firm statement, said China was the source of tension in the region as it called on China to “reflect upon its own actions in the South China Sea and the West Philippine Sea,” after Beijing claimed that the recent US-Japan-Philippines trilateral leaders summit only amps up tensions in the region.
Upon his return to Manila on Monday, President Marcos told members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines that the Philippines may invoke the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the US if a sailor or a member of its military is killed in an attack in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines gained more supporters in its territorial dispute with China as the Group of Seven (G7) called out China’s continued “militarization, coercive and intimidation activities” in the South China Sea, saying Beijing’s expansive maritime claims to the strategic waterway have no legal basis.
On Wednesday, China’s foreign ministry called the annual war games between the United States and the Philippines a “provocation,” a charge that was dismissed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), saying it was the country’s prerogative to conduct such drills.
Yesterday, thousands of Filipino and American troops kicked off joint military exercises in the Philippines — dubbed Balikatan, or “shoulder to shoulder” in Tagalog — which will be concentrated in the northern and western parts of the archipelago nation, near the potential flashpoints of the South China Sea and Taiwan.
A substantial increase in the number of Chinese vessels was monitored in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on the heels of the annual “Balikatan” war games.
Meanwhile, the Philippine military got a boost in its defense capabilities as the first batch of BrahMos cruise missiles from India arrived in the Philippines on Friday, making the country the third Southeast Asian nation to acquire the world’s fastest supersonic anti-ship missile system.
As tensions rise between China and the Philippines, Filipino officials have become increasingly suspicious of the presence of Chinese nationals in the country. The latest to gain the officials’ attention are the more than 400 Chinese students enrolled in universities in Tuguegarao, Cagayan, one of the EDCA sites that host American troops. Three senators were the first to sound the alarm, concerned of the threat the presence of the students pose to national security.
At the same time, progressive lawmakers said China’s alleged recruitment of Filipino military and police personnel and the reported existence of Chinese sleeper cells must be investigated.
On another matter that hogged the headlines in the Homeland the past week, the rift between the Marcoses and the Dutertes widened further with the entry of the first lady, Liza Araneta-Marcos, into the fray. The President’s wife admitted to snubbing Vice President Sara Duterte following her attendance at the controversial prayer rally where Marcos was called a drug addict, saying that after that incident, “bad shot na yan sa akin” (she’s now in my bad graces).
Sara ignored her, though, saying the First Lady’s personal sentiments against her are not covered by her mandate as a public servant.
Amid calls for Sara’s resignation and for her removal from the Cabinet, President Marcos said there is no reason for her to remove her as education secretary, and that the personal sentiments of his wife would not affect his working relationship with Sara Duterte.
Earlier in the week during the FOCAP forum, President Marcos said with the continued attacks from his predecessor, his relationship with the Duterte family has become “complicated.” Marcos, however, said his relations with Vice President Sara Duterte haven’t changed.
The word war between President Marcos and his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte continued during the week, with the Chief Executive taking a jab at the former president’s possibly treasonous deal with China, but himself having to parry accusations of power lust.
Another close ally of the Dutertes, former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, was in hot water after he called on military officials to withdraw their support from President Marcos during a rally in Tagum, Davao del Norte. The Department of Justice said it would investigate the recent statements made by Alvarez.
The National Security Council called on the Department of Justice to consider legal action against Alvarez, saying the latter’s call could be interpreted as “seditious or rebellious.”
Alvarez apologized on Tuesday night for his call for the Armed Forces of the Philippines to withdraw support from President Marcos, saying he got carried away by his emotions. He, however, denied that it was inciting sedition.
In the US, Speaker Mike Johnson finally managed to sail the foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan thru the divided House of Representatives, winning approval for four separate bills after months of being stalled by Republican infighting.
Johnson earned praise from both a top Republican and a progressive Democrat on Sunday for allowing votes on a $95 billion foreign aid package, suggesting he’ll be able to hold onto his job if conservative hard-liners make good on their threat to force a vote to remove him as the leader of the House.
But Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) ripped Johnson and her House colleagues for advancing the massive foreign aid package.
Ukrainian and Western leaders on Sunday welcomed the desperately needed aid package, as the Kremlin warned that passage of the bill would “further ruin” Ukraine and cause more deaths.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that U.S., British and French military support for Ukraine has pushed the world to the brink of a direct clash between the world’s biggest nuclear powers that could end in catastrophe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked U.S. political leaders for approving an aid package to Ukraine, saying the newfound aid will give the country a chance at “victory” as the country defends itself from Russia.
Former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial entered its sixth day this morning with arguments over whether the former president should be held in contempt for allegedly violating a gag order.
Meanwhile, back in the US, protests against Israel’s war in Gaza spread through various campuses the past week. Columbia University in New York was forced to hold virtual classes after a growing number of leaders and organizations called on the university to protect students amid reports of antisemitic and offensive statements and actions on and near its campus.
The move came after over 100 people were arrested and issued summonses for trespass — including Rep. Ilhan Omar’s daughter — after protesters set up an encampment at New York’s Columbia University in support of Gaza.
After its decision to cancel this year’s valedictorian speech by Asna Tabassum, a South Asian American Muslim, was met by massive protests, the University of Southern California announced it would be eliminating all outside speakers and honorees from its main-stage commencement taking place next month.
This week, we are running a Proudly Pinoy page that carries stories on Filipino achievers, particularly here in the US. We are featuring, among others, two young Filipino-American gymnasts who made it to the Philippine team to the Paris Olympics, and two brothers who are playing in the NHL playoffs.
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