Marcos urged to stick to South China Sea ruling amid Philippines’ ‘sweet spot’ in US-China diplomacy
- The call by defence and security experts comes as Washington renews its pledge to support the Philippines in the event of an ‘armed attack’
- An envoy suggests Asean centrality could form the basis of such a policy, which analysts say would require deft diplomacy with the recognition ‘China is a power to reckon with’
President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr was urged on Tuesday to stick firmly to the South China Sea arbitral ruling won by the Philippines, even as the United States renewed its pledge to support Manila in the event of any “armed attack” in the contested waterway.
The call by defence and security experts came in a forum on Tuesday – the sixth anniversary of the arbitral award issued by the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration – held by the Stratbase ADR Institute.
Think tank president Professor Victor Manhit said a recent poll showed 89 per cent of Filipinos wanted Marcos to “assert our rights over the West Philippine Sea” – the name Manila uses to refer to its exclusive economic zone and maritime areas in the South China Sea. The UN award nullified the “nine-dash line”, China’s basis for claiming nearly all of the South China Sea.
According to the June 24-27 survey by private pollster Pulse Asia, most respondents wanted the Philippines to strengthen navy and coastguard capabilities (90 per cent), as well as to build alliances with other countries (84 per cent) to better defend the country’s maritime territorial rights, Manhit said.
Murray Hiebert, research director of BowerGroupAsia and author of Under Beijing’s Shadow: Southeast Asia’s China Challenge, said during the forum that the Philippines was “in a very sweet spot” with the new Marcos administration.
“Both China and the US are coming courting, hoping to reboot their relations,” he said.
Hiebert noted that US President Joe Biden was the first to call Marcos to congratulate him on his win, while China’s foreign minister Wang Yi was the first senior official to visit him.