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US to stand by Philippines amid China's 'provocative' actions — Pentagon

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ABS-CBN News

<div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1718762076705marcos.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(51, 51, 51);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is given full military honors at the Pentagon on May 4, 2023. He was welcomed by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. <em>Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN News</em></span><em> </em></span></span></span></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">MANILA — The US Department of Defense said the US will continue to stand with the Philippines amid heightened tension with China, which disrupted a Philippine resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">At a press briefing, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, who is Pentagon press secretary, declined to give details on the Ayungin incident but said that “this kind of behavior is provocative, it&#x27;s reckless, it&#x27;s unnecessary, and … it could lead to something bigger and more violent.”</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, a Philippine Navy sailor “sustained severe injury” after the China Coast Guard intentionally rammed a Navy rubber boat during a resupply mission to the Sierra Madre.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/6/18/philippine-sailors-injured-as-china-boards-intercepts-ph-boats-near-ayungin-shoal-1442">READ: Philippine sailors injured as China boards, intercepts PH boats near Ayungin Shoal</a></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Seven other Navy personnel were also injured in the incident, where, according to Beijing, China Coast Guard personnel boarded Philippine vessels.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">“And so we are going to continue to stand with our Philippine allies. We condemn the escalatory and irresponsible actions by the [People’s Republic of China] to deny the Philippines from executing a lawful maritime operation in the South China Sea,” Ryder said.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">“And as you&#x27;ve heard [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin] and others say, the Philippines&#x27; rightful, legal maritime claims must be protected.”</p><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="3057568"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">Ayungin Shoal is in the West Philippine Sea, which is the part of the South China Sea within the Philippines&#x27; exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">The US Department of State on Tuesday said China’s use of water cannons and aggressive maneuvers “<a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/6/18/us-reaffirms-support-for-ph-in-west-philippine-sea-condemns-china-s-actions-1418#:~:text=“The%20United%20States%20stands%20with,June%2017%2C”%20Miller%20said.">endangered the lives of Philippine service members, is reckless, and threatens regional peace and stability.”</a></p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">It also made reference to the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the US, the country’s only treaty ally and its former colonizer.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal;min-height:15px"><br/></div><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">The Marcos administration has welcomed broader engagement with the US and with other partner nations, as well as the European Union, in the simmering dispute with China, which claims a large part of the West Philippine Sea.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/18/marcos-says-philippines-will-vigorously-defend-what-is-ours-1548">READ: Marcos says Philippines will &#x27;vigorously defend what is ours&#x27;</a></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><p>Activist groups, including Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, though, warn that US presence in the West Philippine Sea — and in the Philippines, in general — puts the country at risk of being caught in the middle of the rivalry between the US and China.</p><p>Among their suggested alternatives is holding joint maritime patrols with other countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including those with claims in the South China Sea.</p><p style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal">&quot;While the purpose of joint patrols is civilian in character, it can also discourage aggressive actions by China, or any other disputant, which could escalate the existing tension,&quot; <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/23/23/joint-west-philippine-sea-patrols-urged-after-chinas-coercive-actions">Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares said last October</a>.</p><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><br/></div><div style="margin-bottom:0px;line-height:normal"><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iqhuTJHHEs8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>“And as you've heard [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin] and others say, the Philippines' rightful, legal maritime claims must be protected,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said.</p>

“And as you've heard [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin] and others say, the Philippines' rightful, legal maritime claims must be protected,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said.