A top United States official on Thursday told a Chinese counterpart that Washington’s defense commitments to the Philippines were “ironclad” after a semi-violent confrontation between vessels of the two countries in the South China Sea.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell “raised serious concerns” about Chinese actions in a call with Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, the State Department said.
Campbell “reiterated that US commitments to the Philippines under the Mutual Defense Treaty remain ironclad,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Campbell also called for “peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait, in the wake of China’s military drills around the self-governing democracy following the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te, and renewed US concerns about Chinese exports that support Russia’s defense industry.
Chinese coast guard personnel wielding knives, sticks and an ax surrounded and boarded three Filipino navy boats last week, in the most serious of a number of escalating confrontations.
China has been asserting claims in the strategic South China Sea and separately has put pressure on Taiwan, which it considers part of its territory awaiting reunification.
The United States provides weapons to Taiwan but has been deliberately ambiguous on whether it would come to its defense in a Chinese invasion.
By contrast, the United States has a defense treaty with the Philippines that dates to 1951 that says Washington will come to its former colony’s aid in case of an “armed attack.” But this Mutual Defense Treat (MDT) was criticized by ex-President Ferdinand E. Marcos for being lopsided in favor of the US.
The elder Marcos said that US support for the Philippines is not automatic, for the American President will have to wait for the approval of the US Congress before it can start a military action to help the Philippines repel an invader. This delay, according to Marcos, means Filipinos are already dying in battle while the US congressmen and senators are debating whether to help or not.
This is actually the American definition of “ironclad” support. The same adjective US President Joseph Biden used when he assured Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu of backing by the US government in his country’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Hours later, Biden was meeting with President Bongbong Marcos in Washington and dishing out the same “ironclad” assurances of assistance.
We might need to experience actual hostilities before the Filipinos can positively believe what American “ironclad” support is. After all, the Mutual Defense Treaty has never been invoked by any of the parties despite previous incidents of attacks in their respective territories. We refer here to the siege of Marawi City by Muslim jihadists in May, 2017 and the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center buildings in New York City in September, 2001.