China has hit back at the United States over what it described as a “thinly veiled threat” to invoke its Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines amid the tension in South China.
Counselor Ji Linpeng, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Manila, also addressed Washington’s pronouncements that Beijing’s “provocative actions” are threatening the peace and stability in the region.
“China is not the one that provoked the recent tense situation in the South China Sea, and thus the responsibility for the recent situation at sea does not lie with China,” Ji said in a statement on Wednesday.
“China was made to take necessary steps to safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in face of infringement of our rights and interests and provocation,” he added.
During his visit to the Philippines, US State Department Secretary Antony Blinken stressed that Washington is ready to invoke its defense pact with the Philippines in the face of Beijing’s increasing aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
“We have a shared concern about the PRC actions that threaten our common vision for a free open Indo-Pacific, including in the South China Sea and in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone,” Blinken said.
He specifically pointed out the aggressive actions of the China Coast Guard against Philippine vessels engaged in regular rotational and resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal or Second Thomas Shoal. These actions include the use of water cannons, blocking maneuvers, close shadowing, and other dangerous operations.
“These waterways are critical to the Philippines to its security and economy, but they're also critical to the interests of the region, the United States, and the world,” he said.
“It's why we stand with the Philippines and stand by our ironclad defense commitments, including under the Mutual Defense Treaty,” he added.
Citing Article IV of the MDT, the US State Department secretary reiterated that “any attack on the Filipino aircraft, vessels, or armed forces will invoke” their defense pact with the Philippines.
Signed in 1951, the Philippines and the US agreed that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declared that it would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its constitutional processes.
Ji, for his part, said China firmly opposes the “groundless accusations made by Secretary Blinken about China’s legitimate and lawful actions in the South China Sea and his thinly veiled threat to invoke the so-called MDT obligations.”
He noted that freedom of navigation in the South China Sea “has never been an issue.”
“Under its pretext of safeguarding freedom of navigation, the US is actually seeking freedom of rampage of its warships in the region,” he said.
“By going out of their way and far to the doorsteps of China to bluff and stir up situation, the US warships and military aircrafts are demonstrating the true hegemon. It is exactly the US and not anyone else that’s threatening peace and stability in the South China Sea,” he added.
He stressed that the US is not a party to the South China Sea, hence, it has “no right to interfere in the maritime issues between China and the Philippines.”
He also attributed the recent tension between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea to the US’ “egging.”
“The recent tension in the South China Sea would not have occurred without the US egging on the Philippines. Indeed, the US admits to banding together a small number of countries to offer verbal support to the Philippines,” he said.
“The US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty is a vestige of the Cold War. The military cooperation between the US and the Philippines should not undermine China’s sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea,” he added.
He continued: “China urges the US not to instigate trouble in the South China Sea or take sides on the South China Sea issue. China remains committed to all necessary measures in firmly safeguarding our territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and upholding peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
China claims the vast South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, which is well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration rejected Beijing’s historical claims in the West Philippine Sea and favored Manila’s sovereign rights in the area.
