Germany, Philippines agree to finalize a pact to address security threats

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, left, meets with his Philippine counterpart Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. in Manila, Philippines, yesterday

Germany and the Philippines agreed yesterday to rapidly finalize a defense pact that would allow joint military training and possible sale of German weapons to address security threats, including China’s growing aggression in the South China Sea, which Manila’s defense chief said was “the sole cause of tensions” and conflicts in the disputed waters.

China has long claimed much of the entire seaway, a key global trade and security route, and vowed to defend its territorial interests at all costs.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said the proposed Arrangement on Defense Cooperation that he and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius discussed in talks in the capital, Manila, could be concluded as early as this year given current security concerns. Both underscored the need for countries to press diplomatic efforts under the U.N. Charter to attain “just and lasting peace” from Ukraine to Asia’s flashpoints.

Without mentioning China by name, both defense chiefs expressed in a joint statement their strong opposition to “any unilateral attempt to advance expansive claims, especially through force or coercion.” They also “reaffirmed their staunch commitment to freedom of navigation, overflight and other peaceful uses of the seas consistent with the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

The Philippines and its longtime treaty ally, the United States, and other Western countries have frequently accused China of undermining those international principles with Beijing’s increasingly hostile actions, including the use of powerful water cannons, military-grade laser and blocking and other dangerous maneuvers against Philippine ships in the disputed South China Sea. Meanwhile, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos’s administration has moved to expand security alliances with friendly Asian and Western governments.

Beijing has accused Washington of instigating trouble and threatening the stability of the region by boosting the deployment of U.S. forces, warships and jets and working with countries like the Philippines to try to contain China’s rise.

Responding to a question in a news conference with Pistorius, Teodoro said: “There is only one cause of conflict in the South China Sea…It is China’s illegal and unilateral attempt to appropriate most, if not all, of the South China Sea as their internal waters.”

“That is the sole cause of tensions,” he added.

“The Philippines is not provoking China. We do not seek war, yet we are mandated not only by our constitution but as an obligation to our countrymen to protect whatever areas whether be jurisdiction or rights that rightfully belong to the exclusive benefit of Filipinos,” Teodoro said. JIM GOMEZ, MANILA, MDT/AP