MANILA: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday vowed to defend the Philippines against “armed attack” in the disputed South China Sea in Washington’s starkest warning yet against Chinese claims to most of the strategic waterway.
Speaking in Manila after meeting with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Pompeo said Beijing’s building of artificial islands in waters also claimed by Manila and other neighbors were potential threats to the two allies.
“China’s island-building and military activities in the South China Sea threaten your sovereignty, security and therefore economic livelihood, as well as that of the United States,” he said at a joint news conference with Philippine Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin.
“As the South China Sea is part of the Pacific, any armed attack of Philippine forces, aircraft or public vessels in the South China Sea will trigger mutual defense obligations under Article 4 of our Mutual Defense Treaty.”
Pompeo’s comments marked the first time any US official had publicly stated Washington’s intent to defend its ally in the flashpoint sea.
A 1951 US-Philippine mutual defense treaty committed Manila and its former colonial master to come to each other’s aid in case of an “armed attack in the Pacific area” on either party.
Senior Duterte officials have called for a review of the mutual defense pact with the US because they were unsure whether it applied to the South China Sea row.
Philippine troops, as well as fishermen, have frequently complained about harassment by Chinese maritime security forces around some of the islands and reefs occupied by Filipino troops.
The United States has said it is not taking sides in the disputes over South China Sea islands and waters claimed by China, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam. Beijing claims most of the sea.
However, Washington has asserted its right to freely sail its military and merchant vessels over waters through which trillions of dollars in global trade pass through each year and which reputedly contain vast mineral and oil reserves.
The Philippines was previously one of the staunchest critics to China’s island-building and militarization of the islands.
But Duterte put the dispute on the back burner when he was elected president in 2016 in favor of chasing Chinese trade and investment.
He threatened a split with the United States and called then US President Barack Obama a “son of a whore.”
Relations are being rebuilt under US President Donald Trump, who has hailed Duterte’s actions — including a drugs crackdown that has claimed thousands of lives — as a sign of toughness.
Foreign Secretary Locsin on Friday downplayed his government’s suggestions for a review of the US defense pact, saying in its “vagueness lies the best deterrence.”
“They (US forces) will respond depending on the circumstances but we are very assured, we are very confident that United States has, in the words of Secretary Pompeo and words of President Trump to our president: we have your back,” Locsin said.
US vows Philippines aid against ‘armed attack’ in China-claimed sea
US vows Philippines aid against ‘armed attack’ in China-claimed sea
- Pompeo said Beijing’s building of artificial islands in waters also claimed by Manila were potential threats
- It marked the first time any US official had publicly stated Washington’s intent to defend its ally in the flashpoint sea
China overturns death sentence for Canadian in drug case
TORONTO: China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, a Canadian official told AFP Friday, in a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw as Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing.
Schellenberg’s lawyer Zhang Dongshuo, reached by AFP over the phone in Beijing on Saturday, confirmed the decision was announced Friday by China’s highest court.
Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before China-Canada ties nosedived following the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.
That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians — Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — on espionage charges that Ottawa condemned as retaliatory.
Then, in January 2019, a court in northeast China retried Schellenberg, who was 36 at the time, sentencing him to death while declaring that his 15?year prison term for drug trafficking had been too lenient.
The court said he had been a central player in a scheme to ship narcotics to Australia, in a one-day retrial that Amnesty International called “a flagrant violation of international law.”
Schellenberg has denied wrongdoing.
The Canadian official requested anonymity in confirming the decision by China’s highest court to overturn Schellenberg’s death sentence.
Schellenberg, who has been held in northeastern Dalian since 2014, will be retried by the Liaoning High People’s Court, his lawyer Zhang said. The timing for the retrial has not yet been set.
Zhang said he met with Schellenberg in Dalian on Friday, and said the Canadian appeared relatively relaxed.
Carney, who took office last year, visited China in January as part of his global effort to broaden Canada’s export markets to reduce trade reliance on the United States.
“Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is aware of a decision issued by the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China in Mr. Robert Schellenberg’s case,” foreign ministry spokesperson Thida Ith said in a statement sent to AFP.
Ith said the ministry “will continue to provide consular services to Mr. Schellenberg and to his family,” adding: “Canada has advocated for clemency in this case, as it does for all Canadians who are sentenced to the death penalty.”
New partners
Key sectors of the Canadian economy have been hammered by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and Carney has said Canada can no longer count on the United States as a reliable trading partner.
Carney says that despite ongoing tensions, including allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections, Ottawa needs a functioning relationship with Beijing to safeguard its economic future.
When in Beijing last month, Carney met Chinese President Xi Jinping and heralded an improved era in relations — saying the two countries had struck a “new strategic partnership” and a preliminary trade deal.
Global Affairs Canada did not comment on whether diplomacy during Carney’s visit related to Schellenberg’s case impacted the Chinese court decision.
“Due to privacy considerations, no further information can be provided,” Ith said.
Schellenberg’s lawyer Zhang said Carney’s visit raised his hopes that the Chinese court would announce a relatively positive outcome for his client.
Meng, who had initially been charged with scheming to evade US sanctions on Iran, was freed in September 2021.
Spavor and Kovrig were released the same month.
