US President Joe Biden Backs Philippines in China Standoff

• Biden warns China, reaffirms US defense commitment to Philippines in South China Sea.
• Recent collisions escalate tensions between Filipino and Chinese vessels.
• China claims US has no right to interfere in China-Philippines issues.

Amidst recent maritime incidents in the South China Sea, US President Joe Biden issued a stern warning to China, declaring the United States’ unwavering commitment to defending the Philippines in the event of an attack.

Tensions escalated following two collisions between Filipino and Chinese vessels within the disputed waters. Biden reaffirmed his resolute “ironclad” defense pledge to the Philippines.

Manila has been contesting China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea, taking action such as removing floating barriers and openly inviting media coverage to expose what it considers Beijing’s perilous maneuvers at sea.

Biden’s statement on the South China Sea, delivered on Wednesday, marked his most forceful stance on the matter since recent tensions flared up between Beijing and Manila.

“I want to be clear — I want to be very clear: The United States’ defense commitment to the Philippines is ironclad. The United States defense agreement with the Philippines is ironclad,” he said.

Signed in 1951, the Mutual Defense Treaty binds the US and the Philippines, its former colony, into defending each other in the event of an armed attack.

“Any attack on the Filipino aircraft, vessels, or armed forces will invoke our Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines,” he added in his speech an the White House on Wednesday, as he welcomed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has asserted that the United States has no right to intervene in issues between China and the Philippines.

She emphasized that if the US were to defend the Philippines, it should do so in a manner that doesn’t infringe upon China’s sovereignty and maritime interests in the South China Sea. These comments were made in response to a question regarding the statement.

Over the weekend, the Philippines accused China of engaging in “dangerous maneuvers” that resulted in a collision between a Chinese coast guard ship and a Filipino supply boat within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

In a separate incident, the Philippines reported that a Chinese militia boat had “bumped” a Philippine coast guard vessel. The Filipino vessels were en route to a stranded navy warship at the Second Thomas Shoal to reinforce their territorial claims.

The Philippines’ Defense Minister, Gilberto Teodoro Jr, alleged that the Chinese boats had intentionally collided with the Philippine vessels and accused China of distorting the narrative to suit its own interests.

President Joe Biden echoed these claims, stating that the Chinese vessels had acted recklessly and unlawfully during the collisions.

The Philippines holds significant strategic importance for the US due to its proximity to potential flashpoints in the Pacific, including the South China Sea and Taiwan.

Since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assumed office in June 2022 and renewed the Philippines’ alliance with the US, Filipino authorities have become more assertive in challenging China’s actions in the South China Sea.

This shift in foreign policy under Marcos contrasts with his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who had been criticized for not taking sufficient action against China’s assertiveness in the South China Sea.

Duterte had declined to invoke Manila’s legal victory against China in an international tribunal, which ruled that China’s extensive claims over nearly the entire South China Sea lacked a legal basis.

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