The Philippines says China is pushing it to cede claims in the South China Sea

By Peter Hobson and Lewis Jackson

CANBERRA (Reuters) -China is increasing pressure on the Philippines to give up its sovereign rights in the South China Sea, Manila Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro said on Tuesday after a meeting with his Australian counterpart in Canberra.

The fifth meeting since August 2023 reflects growing security ties between the countries, both of which have expressed concerns about Chinese activities in areas of the busy waterway claimed by the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries.

“What we are seeing is an increasing demand from Beijing to give up our sovereign rights in the area,” Teodoro said after meeting with Australian counterpart Richard Marles, adding that the Philippines was a “victim of Chinese aggression.”

The two countries signed a strategic partnership in September 2023 before conducting their first joint sea and air patrols in the South China Sea months later. This year, for the first time, the Philippines also participated in the war games in Australia.

In Beijing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said China has taken steps to assert its rights after the Philippines “infringed first.”

“If the Philippines stops infringing and provoking, there will be no more escalation of the maritime situation,” spokesman Lin Jian said at a briefing.

China and the Philippines have clashed repeatedly this year over disputed areas in the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal, one of the most disputed areas in Asia.

On Sunday, China’s Foreign Ministry said its government had defined a baseline of “territorial waters” around the Scarborough Shoal in response to the Philippine approval of two laws defining sea lanes and maritime zones to strengthen territorial claims around the South China Sea to strengthen.

Manila’s National Maritime Council said on Tuesday it objected to China’s setting of baselines and accused Beijing of violating its sovereignty.

“China’s establishment of baselines around the shoal is a continuation of the illegal seizure of the shoal in 2012, which the Philippines continues to strongly oppose,” the country said in a statement.

Since capturing the shoal in 2012 after a standoff with the Philippines, China has continuously deployed coast guard and fishing vessels there, some accused by Manila of being maritime militias.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship trade, including parts claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said China’s claims had no legal basis, a ruling Beijing rejects.

Teodoro said China’s claims and behavior violated international law and that defense agreements with partners like Australia were an important way to deter Chinese incursions.

“Although they (China) claim to act under the auspices of international law, everyone knows that what they are doing violates the principles of international law,” he said.

“The biggest proof of this is that no one has actually supported their actions or activities.”

In addition to closer ties with countries such as Australia and the United States, the Philippines also plans to spend at least $33 billion on new weapons such as advanced fighter jets and medium-range missiles.

Marles said Australia wants to work more closely with the Philippine defense industry and will send a technical assessment team there early next year.

(Reporting by Peter Hobson, Lewis Jackson and Alasdair Pal; additional reporting by Mikhail Flores in Manila and Liz Lee in Beijing; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)