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South China Sea
ChinaDiplomacy

Can the US enlist the Philippines to help contain China in the Indo-Pacific?

  • Chinese coastguard law may give pro-US faction in Manila upper hand after President Rodrigo Duterte’s hostility to Washington
  • Observers say the Philippines is key to US plans for a strong regional counterbalance against Beijing’s influence

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Observers say the Philippines is crucial to US plans to counterbalance China in the Indo-Pacific region. Photo: Shutterstock
Rachel ZhangandTeddy Ng

The United States will be looking to restore its security alliance with the Philippines, including a renewal of their military pact, as it seeks to build a stronger regional counterbalance against China, observers said.

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Washington has repeatedly pledged to build stronger defence ties with the Philippines since the inauguration of Joe Biden as US president. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the US-Philippine alliance in late January, including support for Manila against armed attacks in the South China Sea.

On Tuesday, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Manila counterpart Delfin Lorenzana and stressed the importance of strengthening the Philippines’ armed forces, as well as renewing the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) – suspended by President Rodrigo Duterte last year.
Some diplomatic observers said there was momentum in the Philippines to renew the deal, which covered the operation of US forces in the country, given China’s increasing dominance in the South China Sea – a resource-rich and strategically important waterway that is subject to numerous disputed claims.

China’s recent passage of a law giving its coastguard service explicit authority to fire on foreign vessels in its territory was seen in the Philippines as “a spear directed against us”, according to Renato Cruz De Castro, a professor of international relations at De La Salle University in Manila.

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“Within the [Philippine] government, there is a pro-China faction and a pro-America faction. It seems now the pro-America faction has become dominant … mainly because of China’s recent action, the new law of China regarding the coastguard,” he said.

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