BEIJING (AFP) – China should impose “sanctions’’ on the Philippines after it offered to allow more US troops on its soil, Chinese state media said Sunday, amid growing tension over disputed waters in the South China Sea.
Manila said Friday it planned to hold more joint exercises and to let more US troops rotate through the country – an offer welcomed by the United States as it seeks to expand its military power in Asia.
China has not yet officially responded to the announcement, which was made during the country’s weeklong holiday for the Lunar New Year. The foreign ministry Sunday did not immediately respond to requests from the Agence France Presse (AFP) for comment.
But an editorial in the Global Times, known for its nationalistic stance, said Beijing “must respond’’ to the move by using its “leverage to cut economic activities’’ between the Philippines and other Southeast Asian countries.
China also should consider “cooling down’’ business links with its smaller neighbor, according to the editorial published in the Chinese and English versions of the newspaper.
“It should show China’s neighboring areas that balancing China by siding with the US is not a good choice,’’ it said. “Well-measured sanctions against the Philippines will make it ponder the choice of losing a friend such as China and being a vain partner with the US.’’
China and the Philippines, along with Vietnam, have rival claims to parts of the South China Sea, home to some of the world’s most important shipping lanes and believed to hold rich deposits of fossil fuels.
Taiwan, Brunei, and Malaysia also have claims in the South China Sea which the Philippines has renamed West Philippine Sea.
Manila and Hanoi complained repeatedly last year of what they said were “increasingly aggressive acts” by China in the decades-long rift.
The alleged acts, which included a Chinese naval ship reportedly firing warning shots at Filipino fishermen, fuelled fears among some nations in the region about China as its military and political strength grows.
The US has been looking to increase its military presence across the Asia Pacific in a strategic shift that has angered China.
US President Barack Obama said in November the United States would deploy up to 2,500 Marines to northern Australia. The following month a US admiral wrote that the US expected to station several combat ships in Singapore.
Sunday, Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte said the Aquino government is committed to build its military strength whether or not it is engaged in a sea dispute with China.
Valte said the country’s defense capability has lagged behind its neighbors so it badly needs an upgrade.
She made the remarks after the Philippine government announced plans to hold more military drills with the United States, but made clear it is against re-establishing American bases in the country.
“The government wants to raise the level of capability of our defense not because we are currently engaged in a dispute,” Valte said over state-run “Radyo ng Bayan.”
“Nobody will contest if we have been left by the times when it comes to our defense capability. We are not pursuing it, just because of a conflict. We just want to elevate our defense level,” she added.
Part of the modernization program is to upgrade the country’s sea assets, particularly boats to guard and patrol the archipelago, Valte said.
The Palace confirmed last week that the government is in talks with Washington for enhanced defense cooperation. None of these initiatives, however, involve the return of American bases to the Philppines.
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