DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. on Wednesday said China must demonstrate sincerity, stop asserting territorial claims that violate international law and cease activities threatening regional security before the Philippines considers restoring military-to-military communications.
“Firstly, they must prove sincerity,” Mr. Teodoro said during a virtual press briefing.
China must also abandon its claims over areas where it has no legal basis to assert sovereignty or jurisdiction, he said, adding that Beijing must also stop what he described as “predatory activities” in the Pacific and in portions of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Mr. Teodoro said direct communications between the Department of National Defense and China’s defense establishment remain suspended because reopening the channels could compromise Philippine security. “But other venues are open,” he noted.
He clarified that diplomatic communications between the two countries remain open, while the Philippine Coast Guard should maintain communication channels with its Chinese counterpart for law enforcement and maritime safety.
Mr. Teodoro questioned the need to restore military communications, saying the Philippines and China have no joint military operations or strategic alignment.
He also rejected China’s argument that restoring military communications could help de-escalate tensions, saying Beijing was responsible for the escalation.
Mr. Teodoro criticized Beijing’s nine-dash line, which underpins its expansive claims in the South China Sea, saying it contradicts the 2016 arbitral ruling on the maritime dispute.
“I mean, even ASEAN does not accept their nine-dash line. I mean that nine-dash line is the biggest fiction and the biggest lie that has been done,” he said.
The 2016 ruling by an arbitral tribunal in The Hague invalidated China’s historic rights claims insofar as they exceed the maritime entitlements allowed under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. China has rejected the ruling.
Mr. Teodoro said the suspension of military communications was intended to protect Philippine security and prevent China from using the channels to advance its narratives.
He said the decision, which he made at least three years ago, remained justified because he did not consider China a sincere partner on military matters.
“My decision to do so at least three years ago, I could already see that they were not a sincere partner to talk to on a military level. It stands. I’m morally, legally, and shall we say strategically convinced that that is the right decision,” he said in mixed English and Filipino. — Pexcel John Bacon