Keep lines open

The “global issue” phase of the Philippine strategy in resolving the maritime friction with China went smoothly in Singapore, taking the opportunity presented in the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue. Security officials led by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. scoured the decision-makers in the forum to forge alliances.

In the pushback against China, the Philippines employed the so-called aggressive transparency that involves not backing down to the bullying at sea while observers watch the events unfolding.

In effect, the world watched the bullying that took place in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) primarily during the time that resupply missions to the stranded BRP Sierra Madre were undertaken.

During lulls in the Summit, Teodoro held a series of bilateral talks with his counterparts from Lithuania, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore and the European Union that resulted in pledges for defense and security cooperation.

There is a clear discernment among the allies of the challenge facing the Philippines.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles noted that not only had Philippine ships been rammed and hit with water cannons by China, but he added that a Chinese warplane dropped flares above an Australian helicopter earlier in the year, and in November a Chinese navy ship injured Australian divers in Japanese waters with sonar.

“In the face of these multiple sources of tension, it’s even more imperative that every country plays its part in managing increasing strategic risk,” he said.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said in his address at the Forum that the West Philippine Sea conflict is not a regional but a global concern since half of total international trade passes through the waterway.

While not mentioning any country in particular, Marcos said the tensions in the WPS have reached a precarious level.

The thrust towards a broad coalition must not be considered an escalation of the situation since the goal is to introduce dialogues but on an equal footing, not the bilateral negotiations that are unevenly slanted towards China.

Even United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made it clear during the assembly that war with China was neither imminent nor unavoidable as he stressed the value of keeping an open line among countries.

Austin met for more than an hour on the sidelines of the forum with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun, the first in-person meeting between the top defense officials since contact between the American and Chinese militaries broke down in 2022 after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which infuriated Beijing.

Talks that are based on mutual respect are a valuable deterrent to an armed confrontation.

Forming broad alliances will allow pressure from the international community to force the aggressor to abandon its provocations and to sit at the negotiating table.

Austin said that as long as the lines are open, “we’re able to identify those issues that are troublesome and that we want to make sure that we have placed guardrails to ensure there are no misperceptions and no miscalculations … that can spiral out of control.”

“You can only do that kind of thing if you are talking.”

Such miscalculations may lead to the death of a Filipino which President Marcos said would be “very, very close to what we define as an act of war and therefore we will respond accordingly.”

Marcos added that he assumed the Philippines’ treaty partners, which includes the US, “hold the same standard.”

China must play its part as a regional leader to convince its neighbors that it is not a threat to peace and allow dialogues while setting aside its unreasonable claims in the vital seas.

As an emerging superpower, it has the duty to maintain the peace instead of causing uncertainties.