By John Victor D. Ordoñez and Adrian H. Halili, Reporters
CHINESE state media on Wednesday urged Manila to withdraw Washington’s mid-range Typhon missile system to keep the peace in the region amid rising tensions in the waterway.
“The region needs peace and prosperity, not intermediate range missiles and confrontation,” People’s Daily, the newspaper of the governing Communist Party, said in a commentary. “The Philippines has repeatedly gone back on its word and acted in bad faith … initially promising that it was only a temporary deployment, and that the system would be withdrawn.”
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.
This followed the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Feb. 12 statement, calling for the Philippines to “change the course” by reconsidering its plan to keep the US Typhon missile launchers.
Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. earlier said he was willing to pull out the US Typhon missile once China stops its aggression in the South China Sea.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Gerardo C. Teodoro, Jr. earlier said Manila will not be a “doorstep” and that acquiring the missile system was within the country’s “prerogative” to enhance its defense capabilities.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, a vital waterway for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, putting it at odds with Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
A United Nations-backed tribunal in 2016 voided China’s claim for being illegal, but Beijing does not recognize the ruling.
Senator Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said that China continually shifted the narrative when it comes to aggressive activities in the South China Sea, especially on social media.
“We feel it very strongly here in the Philippines that whenever they bully us in the West Philippine Sea or there is an issue that they are doing something wrong to us, they will really come out with their propaganda that denies it,” Ms. Hontiveros said in a separate news briefing.
She added that certain individuals, sectors, or even candidates in the mid-term elections have been supporting China it is effort to spread false narratives, especially on activities in the South China Sea.
“We are being gaslighted by China… I would expect that from Chinese state-owned media but not from our (countrymen),” she said.
US Embassy in the Philippines has no comment on the Chinese state media’s statement, its Spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay said via Viber message.
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita C. Daza did not immediately reply to a WhatsApp message seeking comment.
NOT A VALID STANCEThe Philippines should not consider China’s proposition as a “valid stance,” Josue Raphael J. Cortez, a lecturer at the School of Diplomacy and Governance of De La Salle-College of St. Benilde said in a Messenger chat.
Keeping the missiles could be a way for the country to project the power and capabilities in response to aggressive activities carried out by China towards the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and fisherfolks, he said.
“These actions are crystal clear violations of our territorial integrity, and the Philippines will of course have to do something about it,” he said.
“We can speculate that this pronouncement of China is in response to the new regime of Washington as this is a manifestation of the United States’ ‘ironclad commitment’ to us… Beijing now needs to think twice before undertaking something that would further impede on our rights over the disputed territories,” he said.
A security analyst separately said it would be in the best interest of the Philippines to have peaceful settlements with China.
“The presence of US Typhon missiles in the Philippines serves American security interests in Asia to counter China,” Rommel C. Banlaoi, president of the Philippine Society for International Security Studies and former deputy national security adviser, said in a Viber message.
“But it is in the best interest of the Philippines to have peaceful settlements with China through friendly negotiations and diplomatic engagements and not through military deterrence and strategic containment.”
Last week, the PCG accused the Chinese Navy of performing dangerous flight maneuvers close to a Philippine government aircraft.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy helicopter flew as close as three meters to the aircraft, which the PCG said was a “clear violation and blatant disregard” of aviation regulations.
Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Romeo S. Brawner, Jr. has said that the country is looking to buy more military hardware to modernize its arsenal, including additional BrahMos missiles from India and at least two submarines.
The Philippines has contested China’s sweeping claims in the waterway through diplomatic channels by filing more than 190 diplomatic protests since Mr. Marcos took office in 2022.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo has said Manila plans to raise its dispute with China before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) when it takes the chairmanship in 2026.
“The Philippines should uphold the Association of Southeast Asian Nations principles of peace, freedom, and neutrality amidst great power rivalry,” Mr. Banlaoi said.
