9 August 4-10, 2022 China...
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D ue t o t he height ened t ension, t he Philippines put on alert it s armed forces as well as diplomat s. “ The Philippines is closely monit oring deve lopment s in this regard,” Foreign Affairs Spokesperson and Amba ssador Tess D az a said in a st at ement . The Philippine government also urged the two superpowers t o avoi d any m iscalcul at ion due t o t he vi sit . “It is important for the US and China to ensure cont inui ng commu nicat ion t o avoi d any miscalcul at ion and further escalation of tensions. e trust that China and the United States will be responsible actors in the region,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said. China, which considers Taiwan as its territory, had warned Pelosi against the visit but the US leader defied the warning and, during his meeting with Taiwan leaders, de clared suppor t t o “ democrat ic” Taiwan. “ Today t he world faces a choice be t ween democracy and aut ocracy ,” Ms. Pelosi said dur ing a meet ing wit h the Taiwan president. “America’s determination to preserve democracy here in Taiwan and around t he world remains ironclad.” Before and during Pelosi’s visit, China conducted milit ary exe rcises near and around Taiwan, prompt ing the US to send its nuclear-powered warships in Philippine wat ers near Taiwan. Pelosi’s Taiwan visit was reported to be an affront to China President i Jinping, who had made unifying Taiwan and China a goal in his administration. Amid the heightened tension, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ew to Manila to meet with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other o cials on various matt ers in t he age nda, includi ng t he mut ua l defense t reat y between the US and the Philippines. Meanwhile, as the Ukraine-Russia war continues amid the rising tension in Asia Pacific, United Nations secret ary ge neral Ant onio G ut erres warned t hat t he world faced “ a nuc lear dange r not seen since t he height of the Cold ar” and was ust “one miscalculation away
from nuc lear annihilat ion.” “ e have been extraordinarily lucky so far. But luck is not a strategy. Nor is it a shield from geopolitical tensions boiling over into nuclear con ict,” Guterres said at the start of a conference in New York of countries belonging to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). G ut erres said t he conference was “ a chance t o strengthen” the treaty and “make it fit for the worrying world around us,” citing Russia’s war in Ukraine and t ensions on t he Korean peninsul a and in t he Middle East . Earlier, Stephen Lovegrove, Britain’s national securit y advi ser, warned t he West needs t o est abl ish be t t er communication with China and Russia or risk miscalculat ing i t s way i nt o a nuc lear war. Blinken will visit Manila on August and to further strengthen ashington’s long-time alliance with the Philippines. Blinken, in his first trip to the country as US Secretary of State, will meet President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Philippine counterpart Enri ue Manalo on Aug. , Saturday. “They are expected to discuss bilateral efforts to strengthen the US-Philippines alliance, through increased cooperat ion on energy , t rade, and inve st ment , advancing shared democratic values, and pandemic recovery,” the US Embassy in Manila said in a statement. Marcos has a standing invitation from US President Joe Biden to visit ashington. hile in Manila, Secretary Blinken will meet Secretary for Foreign Affairs Enri ue Manalo to discuss a wide range of issue s, focus ing on sus t aining t he posit ive tra ectory of relations between the Philippines and the United States, strengthening the alliance, and broadening cooperat ion in t he economic sphere, in t he cont ext of both countries’ efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, t he climat e crisis, and ot her regi onal and gl oba l challenge s. The visit follows that of Deputy Secretary of State endy Sherman, the State Department’s second-highest o cial, in June 0 . This is the first visit of a US Secretary of State to the
Philippines in three years after Mike Pompeo in February 019. Blinken’s trip takes place a month after China’s top diplomat ang Yi’s meeting with Marcos and other senior Philippine o cials in Manila. hen the Philippines marked the th anniversary of its arbitration victory against China on July 1 , Blinken rea rmed America’s commitment to defend the Philippines against any armed attack in the South China Sea and re ected anew China’s massive claim on the resource-rich waters. The Philippines and the US have a 0-year-old defense accord, called t he Mut ua l D efense Treat y , t hat binds ashington to defend its Asian ally from aggression. Although not a party to the disputes, the US maintained that keeping the South China Sea – a ma or trade route - open and accessible is within its national interest. China, which considers the sea disputes a purely Asian issue, is opposed to any foreign intervention, particularly from the US. Before his Philippine visit, Blinken would first participate on August 3- in the US-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, and the ASEAN Regional Forum.
