Philippines’ US ties risk more than links with China, expert warns
- Manila could be putting its own interests in the South China Sea at stake in its reenergised cooperation with Washington, says Wu Shicun
- The Philippines should set aside a Hague tribunal ruling and reconnect a hotline to move past differences with China, he says
Addressing a closed-door meeting on the China-Philippines relationship, Wu Shicun, chairman of the Huayang Centre for Maritime Cooperation and Ocean Governance, also cautioned that Manila’s “unprecedented” security cooperation with the US would risk not just ties with China but also the Philippines’ own interests.
“An important prerequisite for stable China-Philippine relations in the future is that the US-Philippine alliance and security cooperation must not target China,” Wu said, according to a transcript published by the Hainan-based think tank.
“But if their cooperation in, for example, the use of military bases, joint exercises, information gathering and logistical supplies infringe the core and important interests of China such as Taiwan, the South China Sea and …[China’s] national security, then not only will China-Philippines relations bear the brunt, and the peace and stability of the South China Sea become untenable, the Philippines’ own interests will also be undermined.”
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