Defence pact will not help Manila: Chinese media
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A defence agreement signed during US President Barack Obama's visit to the Philippines will not help Manila to resolve its dispute with China over islands in the South China Sea, state media said yesterday.
Obama had stressed that the agreement was not designed to counter China, but it “will in fact narrow the window of conflict settlement in the South China Sea and encourage recklessness by Manila in any potential clash with Beijing”, the Global Times newspaper said.
Washington had sent a “wrong signal” through the 10-year Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement with Manila, said Wang Xiaopeng, an expert on the South China Sea at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a state-run think-tank.
“The country is among the weakest in Asean in terms of military strength and 10 years will not help to improve its [position],” the newspaper quoted Wangas saying. “The Philippines is just a pawn of the US amid its rebalancing in Asia,” Wang said. “Once the US shifts its strategic pivot away, it will be deserted.”
Jia Duqiang, another analyst from the same think-tank, told the official China Daily that Washington was using a “double approach” by promising Beijing that it would remain neutral over regional disputes but then signing the defence agreement with Manila.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang gave a relatively mild response, saying that Beijing would “keep an eye on US words and deeds” He urged Washington to “make joint efforts with other countries in the region to promote regional peace, stability and prosperity”.
But a commentary by the China Daily yesterday said Obama had “shown [Washington’s] true colours” on his four-nation trip.
