The Philippines’ top diplomat has said he is “deeply disturbed” by a close encounter between a Chinese military helicopter and one of the south-east Asian country’s fisheries aircraft over a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday, Enrique Manalo, foreign secretary, accused China’s military of being “reckless” and “unprofessional” during the incident earlier in the day, the latest in a series amid heightened territorial tensions between Manila and Beijing.
However, Manalo said he had been reassured by the US’s reaffirmation last week of its commitment to its alliance with the Philippines and that he expected co-operation with Washington to be further enhanced under President Donald Trump’s second administration.
The foreign secretary acknowledged that Trump’s decision to hold negotiations with Russia on its war in Ukraine had created “concern” among Washington’s European allies. But he said his own meeting with US secretary of state Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference last week had been “productive”.
As well as reaffirming America’s commitment to the Philippines, Rubio had discussed how to strengthen defence and security co-operation, he said.
“As far as Philippine-US relations are concerned, I can only say that not only will we continue where we left off in the previous administration, but I feel that we will even enhance our co-operation further,” Manalo said.
The US and Philippines have a mutual defence treaty signed in 1951, and in 2019 Washington clarified that it applied to Philippine islands in the South China Sea, almost all of which is claimed by Beijing.
The Philippine coastguard said a Chinese military helicopter came within 3 metres of a fisheries bureau aircraft during the incident on Tuesday over Scarborough Shoal, a chain of reefs that lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone under international maritime law.
China’s People’s Liberation Army said it had monitored, warned and “drove away” the Philippine aircraft, which it said had “illegally intruded” into Chinese airspace.
There have been repeated confrontations in recent years over Scarborough and Second Thomas Shoal, where China’s coastguard has disrupted trips by vessels commissioned by the Philippine armed forces to send supplies to marines stationed on a derelict ship.
Tuesday’s incident highlighted the continued friction between Beijing and Manila across their disputed waters, even though clashes around Second Thomas Shoal subsided after the two sides came to an unofficial agreement over resupplies to the marines.
“We’re just asking China to please observe international law and international maritime procedures” Manalo said.
Analysts said Beijing might be proving for weakness following Trump’s inauguration. “China is constantly pushing the envelope to test both Manila’s resolve and America’s treaty commitments” said Richard Heydarian of the University of the Philippines.
“Philippines has every reason to be concerned,” said Heydarian, referring to Trump’s decision to exclude European nations, including Ukraine, from negotiations with Russia, which he said created a worrying precedent for the US to explore a similar grand bargain with China.
“We want a seat at the table. Otherwise we are going to wind up on the menu,” he said.
Tensions with Beijing grew after the US last April deployed Typhon missile launchers in the Philippines, which can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles. China has protested vigorously.
Manalo echoed statements by the Philippine defence ministry that the launchers would stay “for now”, adding that they were not “aimed at any particular country”.
The foreign secretary added that Manila was exploring closer co-operation with other states caught in the middle of US-China tensions, a strategy known as “multi-alignment”.
“As a middle power, the rivalry in some ways creates an incentive to reach out to countries in similar situations and to partner with them, which is what we’ve been doing,” Manalo said, adding that Manila would in April host a conference of about 14 such nations in the region.