EU Ready to Cooperate With Philippines on Maritime Security: President

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Philippine leader that the European Union is ready to boost cooperation with the Philippines in maritime security amid tensions with China in the disputed South China Sea.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen gives a press conference on energy at EU headquarters in Brussels on Sept. 7, 2022. Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty Images

The European Union is ready to bolster maritime security cooperation with the Philippines and uphold a 2016 arbitration court’s ruling in the South China Sea dispute, the European Commission president said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Manila on Monday and pledged to boost cooperation with the Southeast Asian nation in trade, critical raw materials, and security.

The EU-Philippine maritime security cooperation would include information exchange and threat assessments, Ms. Von der Leyen said. She also highlighted the EU’s willingness to enhance the Philippine Coast Guard’s capacity.

“The global geopolitical landscape is changing. It is volatile. It is more threatening. Authoritarian leaders show that they are willing to act on their threats,” Ms. Von der Leyen said in a press statement.

Ms. Von der Leyen also affirmed the EU’s stance on the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal that invalidated China’s sweeping territorial claims in the South China Sea, saying that the court’s ruling was “legally binding” and “provides the basis” for resolving disputes between the parties.

She expressed concerns over the rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, where the Chinese regime has been increasing its presence through military deployments, artificial islands, and illegal fishing.

“The illegal use of force cannot be tolerated—not in Ukraine, not in the Indo-Pacific. Security in Europe and security in the Indo-Pacific is indivisible. Challenges to the rules-based order in our inter-connected world affect all of us,” she added.

Beijing claims much of the South China Sea as its own territory under its so-called nine-dash line. The Hague Tribunal ruled in favor of legal action taken by the Philippines in 2016, although it had little to no impact on the Chinese regime’s actions.

The United States, Japan, and France previously expressed concern over reports of Philippine coast guard ships being “followed, harassed, and obstructed” by Chinese vessels within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

A Chinese coast guard ship patrols Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Oct. 6, 2022. STR/AFP via Getty Images

However, Beijing has rejected any claim or action based on the 2016 ruling and argued that the ruling “gravely violated” the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

“The award is illegal, null, and void. China does not accept or recognize it and will never accept any claim or action based on the award,” the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines said on July 12, the seventh anniversary of the South China Sea arbitration.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei have also clashed with the Chinese regime over its claims in the South China Sea.

Philippines Vows to Defend Sovereign Rights

In his second State of the Nation Address on July 24, Mr. Marcos pledged to uphold the Philippines’ sovereign rights and assured Filipinos that his administration would not let the country “loses any of its territory.”

“We will protect our sovereign rights and preserve our territorial integrity in defense of rules-based international order,” Mr. Marcos said in his address.

Mr. Marcos, who took office in June last year, has shifted from his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte’s pro-China stance and deepened ties with the United States, the Philippines’ sole treaty ally in the Indo-Pacific.

Under his leadership, the U.S. military has been granted increased access to Philippine military bases, and joint patrols in the South China Sea—which Manila refers to as the West Philippine Sea—were resumed.

On May 3, the Philippines and the United States established the Bilateral Defense Guidelines, which states that any armed attack on either of their public vessels, aircraft, or armed forces in the Pacific and the South China Sea would invoke the U.S.-Philippines 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.