Dialogue should prevail: Biden's double tactics worsen local situation

Editor's note: Bobby M. Tuazon, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is the Director for Policy Studies of the think tank Center for People Empowerment in Governance. He used to chair the political science department of the University of the Philippines Manila. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

The growing geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea were being fired up by joint naval and air drills involving the Philippines, the U.S., Japan, and Australia on April 7. The war games were conducted days prior to a trilateral partnership summit in Washington, D.C. on April 11 among U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

The drills, which clearly targeted a third country, were in contravention of ASEAN's principles of maintaining a "zone of peace, freedom, and neutrality." Likewise, the drills undermined the Asia-Pacific region's fundamentals of peace, stability, and cooperation.

Described as "Maritime Cooperative Activity," the drills aimed to show "collective commitment" and strengthen cooperation in support of "a free and open Indo-Pacific." Beijing was the objective despite claims that the drills had no specific country in mind. The Philippines' Department of National Defense said five warships participated in the drills.

It was assumed that the drills are bound by bilateral and multilateral treaties among the parties. For one, the Philippines and the U.S. signed the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement, allowing U.S. servicemen access to the Philippines on bilateral exercises. The 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, allows the U.S. to rotate troops into the Philippines for extended and operational facilities. Last year, in addition to five existing sites, the Philippines opened four more bases in three provinces. 

Moreover, the Philippines signed the Philippines-Australia Status of Visiting Forces Agreement in 2007. This month, the Australian warship HMAS Warramunga arrived at the Philippine island of Palawan, which faces the hotly contested waters.

While all defense pacts with the U.S. and Australia allow their forces to enter the Philippines, they do not provide reciprocity to its forces entering either country – one reason why the treaties have been denounced as onerous by Filipino activists.

The Philippines and Japan in November 2023 agreed to start negotiations on a defense deal allowing both nations to deploy troops to each other's country and pave the way for joint drills.

Signaling that it would not accept the four-country drills sitting down, China on April 7 conducted its own "combat patrols" in the South China Sea (SCS). The Global Times said that the "Southern Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army organized a joint maritime and aerial combat patrol on Sunday in the South China Sea."

Unlike under his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte, diplomacy has either been lost or failed under President Marcos Jr. allowing the military to gain ascendance in bilateral relations with China. Despite government denials, the Philippines' defense buildup is sustaining an antagonistic foreign policy against China. Such a drift to a dangerous course has restricted, if not weakened, opportunities and maneuverability to resolve maritime issues with China. Marcos had said that he was open to dialogue to resolve maritime rows but it was obviously a meaningless gesture.

Complicating matters, the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs plays second fiddle to the Department of National Defense and the armed forces, its main role downgraded to issuing "diplomatic protests" against reported "Chinese incursions" on Philippine maritime claims in the SCS.

Further attesting to the Marcos government's refusal to engage China in diplomacy is the fact that it has ignored China's 11 concept proposals to resolve the maritime row. According to The Manila Times, a ranking Chinese official said recently that in April 2023, China presented 11 concept papers, "but these were met with inaction by the Marcos administration." 

He also expressed that to uphold peace and stability in the SCS, China and ASEAN countries would need to return to dialogue based on the implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the SCS signed in 2002. Accelerating negotiations on the code and establishing effective regional rules will be key to regional stability and peace. 

The most encompassing strategy that defines Biden's foreign policy on China remains the same – a bipartisan policy of encirclement and containment of China. Biden is playing the double tactics of promoting stability with China to protect American trade interests while playing tough on "Chinese aggression" in the SCS for which he is using the Philippine president in a proxy war with Beijing – a tack that receives popular support among the U.S. electorate.

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