Philippines won't invoke mutual defense treaty with US after Chinese confrontation at disputed shoal

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Philippines won't invoke mutual defense treaty with US after Chinese confrontation at disputed shoal

2024-06-21 20:34 Last Updated At：20:40

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines said Friday it has no plan to invoke its mutual defense treaty with the United States after the Chinese coast guard reportedly rammed, boarded and used machetes and axes to damage two Philippine navy boats in a chaotic faceoff that injured Filipino navy personnel at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s key advisers made the remarks in a televised news conference, squelching speculation that Manila might consider invoking the 1951 treaty to secure U.S. military help after Monday’s confrontation at Second Thomas Shoal, where the Chinese coast guard also seized Philippine navy rifles. The Philippine military chief condemned the incident, likening it to an act of piracy, and demanded that China return the rifles and pay for the damage.

The territorial disputes, which involve China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, have long been seen as an Asian flashpoint that could pit the U.S. against China if the high seas confrontations escalate into an armed conflict. Washington has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to help defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

"That has not been considered in our discussions,” presidential assistant on maritime concerns Andres Centino said when asked if the Philippines was considering activating its treaty with the U.S.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the government did not consider the Chinese coast guard confrontation an armed attack as stated in the mutual defense treaty with the U.S.

“This was probably a misunderstanding or an accident. We’re not yet ready to classify this as an armed attack,” Bersamin said. “We saw bolo, axe, nothing beyond that.”

In what critics may see as a concession to China, Bersamin said Marcos approved a recommendation for the government to publicize the schedule when navy personnel are deployed to transport food, water and other supplies to the Philippines' territorial outpost in the shoal. A small Philippine navy contingent aboard a long-grounded dilapidated warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, has occupied Second Thomas Shoal since 1999 but China later deployed coast guard, navy and suspected militia ships in a territorial standoff that has become increasingly volatile.

During the hourslong confrontation at the shoal on Monday, Chinese personnel on board more than eight motorboats reportedly rammed and then boarded the two Philippine navy inflatable boats to prevent Filipino navy personnel from transferring food and other supplies, including firearms, to the Philippine ship outpost.

After a scuffle and repeated collisions, the Chinese reportedly seized the boats and damaged them with machetes, knives and hammers. They also seized eight M4 rifles which were packed in cases and other supplies and wounded a number of Filipino navy personnel, including one who lost his right thumb, two Philippine security officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The Philippine navy said only one person was injured but the two officials said at least five were treated on a Philippine coast guard ship that sailed close to the shoal to help rescue the navy personnel. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the sensitive conflict publicly.

China blamed the Philippines for the confrontation, saying the Filipino personnel “trespassed” into the shoal in defiance of its warnings. The Philippines demanded that Chinese coast guard, navy and other ships immediately leave the shoal, which it says is inside its internationally recognized exclusive economic zone, and said it would not yield to Chinese aggression.

European Union leaders agree on top officials who will be the face of world's largest trading bloc

2024-06-28 05:58 Last Updated At：06:01

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders signed off on a trio of top appointments for their shared political institutions on Thursday, reinstalling German conservative Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission for another five years.

At the side of von der Leyen, who heads up the EU’s executive branch, would be two new faces: Antonio Costa of Portugal as European Council president and Estonia’s Kaja Kallas as the top diplomat of the world’s largest trading bloc.

“Satisfaction,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former European Council President. “For Poland and for Europe.”

Both von der Leyen and Kallas should now be approved by European lawmakers. Costa’s nomination only needed the leaders’ approval, and he will start in his new role in fall.

After the three centrist political families in the European Parliament struck a deal earlier this week, the top jobs package was widely expected to be approved at the two-day summit starting Thursday in Brussels.

But far-right politicians, emboldened by their strong showing in EU parliament elections earlier this month, slammed it as a stitch-up in the run-up to the meeting.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made clear her displeasure at being excluded from preparatory talks with a small group of leaders who divvied up the top jobs. Her nationalist European Conservatives and Reformists group emerged as the third force in the European Parliament elections this month.

Meloni voted against Portugal’s Costa and Estonia’s Kallas, two sources close to the discussions told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Meloni abstained on von der Leyen for European Commission president, the same sources confirmed. The two officials requested anonymity in line with EU practice.

In the end only one leader, nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, voted against the tripartite deal.

“European voters were cheated,” he said on Facebook Thursday evening. “We do not support this shameful agreement!” His objections were moot: the package only needed a two-thirds majority to pass.

The June 6-9 poll saw the EU’s legislature shift to the right and dealt major blows to mainstream governing parties in France and Germany, but the three mainstream groups managed to hold a narrow majority of seats.

Costa, a former Portuguese prime minister, hails from the center-left Socialists and Democrats group, which came second. Kallas is prime minister of her tiny Baltic home country. She comes from the pro-business liberal group, which is also home to embattled French President Emmanuel Macron and lost seats in the June poll, trailing into fourth place.

EU top appointments are supposed to ensure geographic and ideological balance, but ultimately it is the 27 leaders who call the shots - and generally the most powerful among them.

While Costa’s appointment is decided by EU leaders alone, both von der Leyen and Kallas will also need to be approved by a majority of lawmakers. With 720 members, the threshold is 361. That vote could happen when the newly constituted European Parliament meets for the first time in July.

The European Council is the body composed of the leaders of the 27 member states. If confirmed, Costa’s role as president would be to broker deals within an often hopelessly divided political club. In Portugal, he is known as a savvy negotiator.

As foreign affairs chief Kallas, whose country neighbors Russia and has taken a strong line on Moscow in its war with Ukraine, would see her represent the bloc on the world stage.

But von der Leyen’s role is the most powerful. As commission president, her job is to devise and implement the bloc’s shared policy on everything from migration to the economy and environmental rules.

With the far right pushing back against the flagship EU policies ushered through in the last five years, von der Leyen’s critics charge she is poised to roll back ambition.

Philippines won't invoke mutual defense treaty with US after Chinese confrontation at disputed shoal

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Philippines won't invoke mutual defense treaty with US after Chinese confrontation at disputed shoal

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