Ahead of US summit, Philippine envoy’s inertia remarks on South China Sea viewed as ‘strategy’ to counter Beijing

Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez says the Philippines cannot continue being ‘accepting’ of Beijing’s aggression in the South China Sea
Analysts say the government’s stance, partly influenced by next year’s midterm election, is also a warning to the pro-China personalities in the Philippines

The Philippines

Jeoffrey Maitem

Published: 8:30am, 11 Apr 2024

Why you can trust SCMP

Remarks by the Philippines’ US envoy on Manila needing to overcome inertia to defend its territory have been described by observers as a political strategy to deal with Chinese maritime aggression and warn against local pro-Beijing sentiment, ahead of a trilateral summit in Washington.

Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez made the comments on television on Tuesday, two days before Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is set to hold talks at the White House with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Romualdez said the Philippine government had been generally “accepting” of the situation in its own waters, referring to China’s aggression within the South China Sea.

Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippines’ ambassador to the United States, in August 2022. Romualdez says Manila has been generally “accepting” of the situation in the South China Sea. Photo: Pool via Reuters

“We can’t continue to be like this. Some people have this wrong notion that we just sit back and nothing will happen to us. We may wake up one day, and we won’t have a country any more,” Romualdez warned.

“What President Marcos is doing is simply saying, ‘enough is enough’. We are going to talk to you seriously. We are not here because we want to have a conflict. We are not here because we are looking for a fight. We are the ones that are being aggressively bullied,” he added.

Manila is locked in an escalating territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea.

On March 23, vessels from China’s coastguard and maritime militia impeded and fired water cannons at Philippine Coast Guard ships accompanying boats on a supply mission to Manila’s military outpost on the Second Thomas Shoal, injuring three Filipino sailors.

Don McLain Gill, a geopolitical analyst and lecturer at the Department of International Studies of De La Salle University, told This Week in Asia that Marcos Jnr had from the beginning highlighted his administration had to be friends with China, but Beijing was “saying one thing and doing [another]”.

01:49

Chinese floating barrier blocks entrance to Philippine ships at South China Sea flashpoint

Romualdez had said the government was finding ways to de-escalate the maritime tension, emphasising his side had already started a conversation with the Chinese government, but if the situation in the waterway worsened, he warned that the United States would not back down on its word to support the Philippines.

“I am very comfortable with that because every single day that I am in Washington and every meeting that I have, it is a serious concern. I have never seen this kind of attention being given to this type of situation that we are in right now,” he added.

The Chinese embassy in Manila made no comments on the latest development.

Asked if the Marcos Jnr administration was serious in its foreign policies towards China or if its stance was only part of political strategy, Filipino military historian and defence analyst Jose Antonio Custodio told This Week in Asia he perceived it as a mixed measure.

“There’s a local dimension when it comes to [Marcos Jnr’s] pushback against China. Especially since his political ratings are low and next year is a midterm election. He has to do something against the challenge posed by the Beijing-sponsored Duterte camp,” said Custodio, also a member of the Consortium of Indo-Pacific Researchers.

Then Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte at the Malacanang Presidential Palace in Manila in May 2021. Photo: Malacanang Presidential Photographers Division via AP

‘Subplot’ against the Dutertes

Custodio, however, said the central government’s strong stance pertaining to the West Philippine Sea issue illustrated the multipronged threat of China’s external aggression against the Filipinos, including what he said were local puppets who lobbied and weakened Filipino resolve on behalf of Beijing.

“The Dutertes are on record to be directly responsible for the weakening of Philippine responses to China during the Duterte administration while cozying up to Beijing,” he said.

“So one wonders if this is only a Philippine pushback against China but also has a subplot which is the marginalisation of the Dutertes as well.”

Marcos ‘horrified’ by Xi-Duterte ‘gentleman’s agreement’ on South China Sea

At the same time, Custodio viewed Romualdez’s comments against Chinese actions as a warning to pro-China personalities in the country.

“That looks like a warning to the Duterte camp,” he said when asked if Romualdez’s latest comments reflected an alarmist Manila stance.

Former Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte, who considered Chinese President Xi Jinping his close friend, allegedly made a “gentleman’s agreement” with Xi to maintain the status quo in the South China Sea while he was in office.

The former president’s spokesman, Harry Roque, said under the deal Manila would not construct or repair any installations within the disputed area but could deliver “food and water supplies” to Filipino troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II navy ship grounded at the Second Thomas Shoal to reinforce Manila’s territorial claims over the surrounding area.

Filipino activists hold a protest condemning China’s actions during an encounter in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, outside the Chinese consulate in Makati City, Metro Manila, the Philippines, on Tuesday. Photo: Reuters

Marcos Jnr, in his first public pronouncement on Wednesday after the controversy came out last week, said he was “horrified” by the alleged deal.

“I am horrified at the idea that we have compromised through a secret agreement the territory, sovereignty, and sovereign rights of the Philippines. We don’t know anything about it; there is no documentation, there is no record,” Marcos Jnr said, following a Bagong Pilipinas Town Hall Meeting held in San Juan City in Manila.

Manila would summon Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian to explain the details of the alleged deal, Marcos Jnr said, once he returned from his US trip.

Gill said at the heart of Marcos Jnr’s foreign policy was the country’s sovereignty and security rights based on international law.

“If such an agreement was actually made, then it will be a big provocation and challenge to our current strategy in the West Philippine Sea,” Gill told This Week in Asia.

“While these agreements have an effect on the narrative surrounding our current positions, I think this will also provide an opportunity for the government to double down on its efforts in the West Philippine Sea, but at the same time maintain an open channel of communication with China,” he added.

15:04

Why is the Philippines aligning itself with the US after years of close China ties under Duterte

Meanwhile, left-wing group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said it would hold a protest in Manila on Thursday to denounce the trilateral summit.

“Bayan warns that the summit will lead to recolonisation, militarisation, and war in the region,” said Mong Palatino, the group’s secretary general.

“It means more intensified foreign military build-up, installation of foreign military facilities, military exercises, and the use of the country’s territory as an extension of the US-led military network.”