(Beijing) Beijing warned Manila on Wednesday that Washington’s announcement the day before of $500 million in additional military aid could “lead to even greater insecurity.”
Antony Blinken and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met Tuesday with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, who has strongly opposed China’s activities in the South China Sea. “We will now allocate an additional $500 million in assistance […] “We are working with the Philippines to strengthen our security collaboration,” Blinken said at a press conference.
Asked about the announcement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry warned Manila that “courting countries outside the region to provoke a confrontation in the South China Sea will only undermine regional stability and escalate tensions.”
“Trying to introduce external forces to protect their own security will only lead to even greater insecurity, and they may even become someone else’s pawn,” spokesman Lin Jian said of the Philippines.
Lloyd Austin and Antony Blinken met with their Philippine counterparts, Enrique Manalo and Gilberto Teodoro, in so-called “2-2” talks aimed at strengthening U.S.-Philippine defense relations.
Also read “Blinken announces $500 million in US military aid”
This is the first time the Philippines has hosted the four-party dialogue. The United States and the Philippines have had a mutual defense treaty since the 1950s.
The visit of the two senior American officials to Manila follows that of the Philippine president to Washington last April. The first tripartite summit between the leaders of Japan, the Philippines and the United States was held on that occasion.
Confrontations between China and the Philippines have escalated in recent months, particularly around Second Thomas Atoll, where Filipino soldiers are stationed on a naval vessel that Manila deliberately ran aground in 1999 to assert its sovereignty claims.
China claims a large part of the islets in the South China Sea, facing other coastal countries (the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia), with rival claims.