By Adrian H. Halili,Reporter
THE PHILIPPINES should “change its course” by reconsidering its plan to keep US Typhon missile launchers, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
“We call on the Philippines to change its course and make a strategic choice that truly serves the fundamental interest of itself and its people, rather than staying on the wrong path and hurting the Philippines itself when it comes to issues like Typhon,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a news briefing in Beijing late Wednesday.
Mr. Guo said this in response to President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s remark that he was willing to pull out the US Typhon missile once China stops its aggression in the South China Sea.
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita C. Daza did not immediately reply to a WhatsApp message seeking comment.
A United Nations-backed tribunal based in The Hague in 2016 voided China’s claim to more than 80% of the waterway Sea for being illegal. China has ignored the ruling.
Manila and Beijing have repeatedly clashed in the disputed waterway, with both sides accusing each other of raising tensions.
The Typhon missile system was deployed by US forces to the Philippines in April last year as part of their Balikatan or “shoulder-to-shoulder” military exercises. The Philippines had said the deployment was temporary, but they have since remained in the country, drawing the ire of the Chinese government.
“It has breached such commitments, claiming they would acquire its own midrange system and field these deterrent capabilities, and linking the South China Sea issue with the Typhon system,” Mr. Guo said.
He added that the stationing of the Typhon missiles in the Philippines would severely disturb the peace and stability of the region and harm the security of other countries.
“China will not sit idly by when its security interests are harmed or threatened,” Mr. Guo said. “Countries in the region will by no means accept this move that goes against the trend of the times.”
The Philippine Army earlier said the US Typhon missile launchers would not be used for live-fire exercises.
Meanwhile, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo said he would meet with international partners from the UK and Germany to discuss international security issues and seek deeper bilateral ties.
Mr. Manalo would visit Munich and London from Feb 14 to 19, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement.
The DFA said that he is expected to exchange views with several international partners on regional developments and discuss means to further strengthen bilateral relations, including the commitment to safeguard a rule-based international order.
He is scheduled to meet with the US secretary of state and the European Commission’s vice-president and high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the sidelines of the 61st Munich Security Conference on Feb. 14-16.
The agency added that Mr. Manalo would also participate in a roundtable discussion during the event. “From Munich, the secretary will proceed to London to hold bilateral meetings with UK officials,” it added.
Mr. Manalo is expected to hold separate dialogues with officials from UK-based think tanks Chatham House and Asin House.
INDIAN ARMS DEALMeanwhile, India expects to sell short-range missiles to the Philippines this year in a deal worth more than $200 million for New Delhi’s second major defense export contract with Manila, Indian sources told Reuters.
The Akash missile system developed by India’s defense research body has drawn interest from the Philippines, which has told New Delhi it would make an order in the fiscal year that begins in April, said three sources.
All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is a sensitive one.
The surface-to-air missile system with a range of up to 25 kilometers was exported to Armenia last year in a $230-million deal, the sources said, adding that the Philippine sale is expected to be bigger than the Armenian deal.
However, they did not reveal the number of missiles and accompanying systems, including radars, involved.
India’s Bharat Dynamics Ltd., the maker of the missiles, was one of the exhibitors at last year’s Asian Defense and Security Exhibition in Manila.
The company and India’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Arsenio R. Andolong, a Philippine defense spokesman, declined to comment on the specifics of any deal or on procurement plans, but said the country’s armed forces had “manifested it requires these capabilities.”
The expected deal would follow India’s $375-million sale of the mid-range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile to the Philippines in 2022.
The purchase comes at a time when Manila is building its military strength as tension escalates with Beijing on overlapping claims in the busy waterway of the South China Sea, where the two have clashed in recent years.
India is the world’s biggest arms importer but is stepping up domestic production and boosting defense exports to counter China’s military strength and influence in its neighborhood after their troops clashed on the Himalayan border in 2020.
India’s exports of defense equipment, including arms and ammunition, have jumped nearly 150% since 2020 to cross $2.4 billion in the fiscal year that ended in March 2024.
However, its arms exports are lower than those of nations like Australia and South Korea, and far below those of China, the world’s fourth-largest arms exporter.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines chief on Wednesday said the country was looking to buy more military hardware to modernize its arsenal, including additional BrahMos missiles from India and at least two submarines.
“We are getting more of this (BrahMos system) this year, and in the coming years,” General Romeo S. Brawner, Jr. said in a speech to top businessmen in the Philippines, but did not mention the Akash missile system. — with Reuters
