Manila (EFE).- The Philippines and Australia are willing to deepen their defense ties through a cooperation agreement, the two nations’ defense chiefs said Friday, amid their largest joint military exercises to date, and in response to China’s “worrying” expansionism in the region.
“Today we have (…) signed a statement of intent to pursue a defense cooperation agreement that we will seek to sign this time next year,” Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said in Manila. “This will be a really important step forward in terms of our defense relationship.”
The agreement will seek to facilitate future military exercises like that currently underway, the largest to date between the two countries, involving 3,600 military personnel and running through to Aug. 29. It will also formalize annual meetings between their defense ministers.
After meeting with Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, Marles revealed that they also decided to develop a “defense infrastructure plan” for the benefit of the Philippines armed forces, the details of which were not disclosed.
Teodoro emphasized that the commitment to greater defense coordination comes in the face of China’s “activities” in the region. The Asian giant’s territorial claims to most of the South China Sea conflict with the positions of other countries in the region, such as the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Taiwan, and often lead to clashes at sea.
China’s actions in the region are “a matter not only of concern, but of condemnation, because these are in gross violations of international law,” the defense secretary said.
The condemnation comes a day after the Philippines’ armed forces denounced an increased presence of Chinese vessels in the waters of Second Thomas Shoal, claimed by both nations and where Manila deliberately grounded a military vessel, the Sierra Madre, as a naval outpost in 1999.
Manila claimed to have observed more than 20 vessels in the area, including Chinese coast guard vessels and maritime militia, some of them carrying “heavy weapons.”
This increase comes amid rising bilateral tensions after two Chinese vessels recently collided while closely pursuing a Philippine vessel, and also coincides with the military exercises between Australia and the Philippines.
In response to its prolonged standoff with Beijing in a strategic region through which nearly 30 percent of global maritime trade transits, which hosts 12 percent of global fishing grounds and potential oil and gas reserves, Manila has sought to strengthen its alliance with the US and other countries such as Australia and Japan. EFE
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