Ahead of US summit, Philippine envoy’s inertia remarks on South China Sea viewed as ‘strategy’ to counter Beijing

Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez says the Philippines cannot continue being ‘accepting’ of Beijing’s aggression in the South China Sea

Analysts say the government’s stance, partly influenced by next year’s midterm election, is also a warning to the pro-China personalities in the Philippines

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A China Coast Guard ship (left) blocks a Philippine vessel (right) near the Manila-held Thitu Island in the disputed South China Sea on March 23, 2024. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:30am, 11 Apr 2024Updated: 10:37am, 11 Apr 2024

Remarks by the Philippines’ US envoy on Manila needing to overcome inertia to defend its territory have been described by observers as a political strategy to deal with Chinese maritime aggression and warn against local pro-Beijing sentiment, ahead of a trilateral summit in Washington.

Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez made the comments on television on Tuesday, two days before Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr is set to hold talks at the White House with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Romualdez said the Philippine government had been generally “accepting” of the situation in its own waters, referring to China’s aggression within the South China Sea.

Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippines’ ambassador to the United States, in August 2022. Romualdez says Manila has been generally “accepting” of the situation in the South China Sea. Photo: Pool via Reuters

“We can’t continue to be like this. Some people have this wrong notion that we just sit back and nothing will happen to us. We may wake up one day, and we won’t have a country any more,” Romualdez warned.

“What President Marcos is doing is simply saying, ‘enough is enough’. We are going to talk to you seriously. We are not here because we want to have a conflict. We are not here because we are looking for a fight. We are the ones that are being aggressively bullied,” he added.

Manila is locked in an escalating territorial dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea.

On March 23, vessels from China’s coastguard and maritime militia impeded and fired water cannons at Philippine Coast Guard ships accompanying boats on a supply mission to Manila’s military outpost on the Second Thomas Shoal, injuring three Filipino sailors.