Phl, U.S. security advisers tackle Ayungin clash

The national security advisers of the Philippines and the United States tackled in a phone call the recent intense confrontation between Filipino sailors and Chinese coast guardsmen at Ayungin Shoal, the National Security Council (NSC) said on Friday.

National Security Adviser Eduardo Año and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan discussed the “escalatory and violent actions against Philippine servicemen” in their conversation on Thursday.

The NSC said Año stressed the Philippines’ firm resolve to protect its sovereign rights and national interest in its exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.

It said that both security advisers underscored “the critical role of Manila’s transparency policy” in the West Philippine Sea and the “primacy of resolving disputes through peaceful means as well as upholding the rules-based international order.”

Año expressed his appreciation for the US’ continuing support and assurances of an “ironclad commitment” in their alliance.

On 17 June, Philippine Navy personnel were “severely” injured when a China Coast Guard vessel “intentionally” conducted a “high-speed ramming” of Filipino vessels delivering fresh supplies to the troops stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal.

The CCG crew brandished knives, axes, and sticks at the Navy personnel. They punctured the rigid-hull inflatable boats of the Filipinos.

The Philippine government condemned China’s deliberate violations of international laws and the rules-based order.

Meanwhile, Washington’s Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell “reiterated that US commitments to the Philippines under the Mutual Defense Treaty remain ironclad,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

Campbell also called for “peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait, in the wake of China’s military drills around the self-governing democratic island following the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te.

He also expressed renewed US concerns about Chinese exports that support Russia’s defense industry.

China has been asserting its claim to the strategic South China Sea and separately has been exerting pressure on Taiwan which it considers part of its territory that it will be reunited with.

The US provides weapons to Taiwan but has been deliberately ambiguous on whether it would come to its defense in a Chinese invasion.