‘Never give in’: Philippine top diplomat has choice words for China

MANILA – Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo says his department has no intention of surrendering or compromising sovereign rights or interests in striking the nation’s diplomatic balance with China.

It’s an increasingly difficult balance to strike, though, as the two sides move from conflict to conflict in the disputed South China Sea.

“Diplomacy does not mean giving in. You never give in. See if you can find a solution or agreement that you both can feel comfortable with. It is never a case that you give in completely to the other side or submission,” Manalo told this author in an exclusive interview this week in Manila.  

Manalo spoke just prior to the latest meeting of the two sides’ Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) on the South China Sea held this week in Beijing. The meeting was held as new tensions have bubbled up in recent days around the Sabina Shoal in the Spratly Islands.

On September 11, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong and Philippine Undersecretary Theresa Lazaro held what were characterized as “frank and candid” talks on ways to de-escalate tensions and prevent armed confrontation in the hotly disputed waters.

“Emphasizing that [Sabina] Shoal is within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Philippines, Undersecretary Lazaro reaffirmed Manila’s consistent position of the Philippines and explored ways to lower the tension in the area,” the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in an official statement following the high-level discussions.

“I reaffirmed the Philippines’ consistent position and explored ways to lower the tension,” Lazaro said separately on X. “We agreed to continue discussions on areas of cooperation, especially on hotline mechanism, coastguard cooperation, and marine scientific and technological cooperation.”

“The two sides had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on maritime issues between China and the Philippines, especially the issue of [Sabina] Reef”, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in its own statement.

But China vowed to “firmly uphold its sovereignty” in the disputed waters and reiterated its earlier demand for the Philippine Coast Guard forces to vacate the contested shoal in the Spratly group of islands.

The Sabina Shoal (known as Escoda in Manila and Xianbin in Beijing) lies 150 kilometers west of the Philippine province of Palawan, well within the Southeast Asian nation’s exclusive economic zone and as far as 1,200 kilometers from China’s southernmost province of Hainan.

Having failed to prevent the Philippines’ successful fortification of its de facto naval base at the Second Thomas Shoal, China seems concerned that Manila may seek to build military facilities on other contested land features.

Still, both sides seem determined to avoid armed confrontation at sea, a scenario that could see the US intervene under its mutual defense treaty with the Philippines.

Earlier this month, Samuel Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, openly offered to directly assist Philippine resupply and patrol missions in the disputed waters.

Earlier this year, Manila and Beijing negotiated a vaguely defined “provisional agreement,” which has reduced tensions, at least over the Second Thomas Shoal.

Proposals to expand a similar pact across other disputed sea areas have reportedly been made. However, the urgent need for diplomacy has been largely thwarted by the increasingly uncompromising positions of both sides.

There is no shortage of hawkish voices. Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr has repeatedly questioned the wisdom of even conducting diplomacy with China, even as this stance directly contradicts the Department of Foreign Affairs’ position.

“No, because they (the Chinese) have the tendency of using the talks against us. They have not proven a level of good faith that would warrant our sensitive department to talk to them,” Teodoro emphatically said in a Senate hearing earlier this year when asked about diplomatic management of tensions in the South China Sea.

Last month, Teodoro went as far as to accuse China of being “the biggest disruptor of international peace”, while openly advocating for “stronger collective multilateral action against China.”

That tough talk broadly tracks local public opinion polls, which consistently show a large majority of Filipinos prefer a hard stance against China in tandem with allies.

Chinese officials have also indulged in carrot-and-stick rhetoric. “We hope that the South China Sea will remain a sea of peace,” Chinese army Lieutenant General He Lei told a small group of journalists at the Xiangshan forum in China.

“We in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will resolutely crush any foreign hostile encroachment on China’s territorial, sovereign and maritime rights and interests with firm determination, staunch will, strong capability and effective means,” he warned.

“If the United States moves its pawns behind the scenes, if it pushes countries to the front line, or if the United States itself ends up on the front line, then we in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army… will never have any patience,” He said.

Top Philippine officials were quick to respond to the Chinese general’s provocative statement.

“We do not feel alluded to. The Philippines is not and will never be a pawn of the United States,” the National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya told the media in response to He’s comments. “As a sovereign nation, the Philippines will resolutely defend its territorial integrity, sovereign rights and jurisdiction,” he added.

Meanwhile, Philippine Navy spokesperson Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad told reporters that the navy was ready to step in if China presses ahead with aggressive maneuvers against the Philippine Coast Guard flagship vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua, which has been stationed at the Sabina Shoal since April to ward off China’s presence in the area.

“There are contingencies in place that our Western Command [in Palawan] already knows if in case this would escalate,” Trinidad said.

At the same time, a proposal to expand the earlier provisional agreement for the Second Thomas Shoal to other disputed sea areas was recently floated. Faced with pushback from the security establishment and other influential strategic voices, Filipino diplomats seem at least for now to have abandoned that plan for a tougher stance.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Manalo has adamantly denied there was any “coordination” with China under the provisional agreement, contradicting Beijing’s claim of a “prior notification” mechanism for Philippine resupply missions to the Second Thomas Shoal.

Filipino diplomats have repeatedly clarified that the interim pact does not undermine the country’s sovereign prerogatives within its 200 nautical miles Exclusive Economic Zone.

“We have an Exclusive Economic Zone, which is recognized. Our presence [in the Second Thomas Shoal & Sabina Reef] is grounded in international law, which were agreed to by [other] countries,” Manalo told the author this week.

“China is not necessarily following the rules it has signed onto…We can’t discuss based on [their] so-called historic rights,” Manalo said, referring to China’s nine-dash line claims in the South China Sea that were rejected by an international court under the aegis of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 2016.

Manalo also pushed back at accusations by Chinese officials and mouthpiece media that the Philippines is serving as an “American pawn”, emphasizing instead how Manila operates purely based on its own national interest.

“We are just exercising our [sovereign] rights…. The narrative that every action [the] Philippines takes…It’s all at the behest of a foreign power [assumes that] we don’t have our own security interests and [strategic] agency. I don’t think that narrative is good…we have our own interests and we are willing to discuss [possible agreements],” he told the author.

He said the Philippines’ expanding defense cooperation with allies and partners is “based on our own needs because we live in a very uncertain world… to make ourselves more secure and one way is to reach out to [likeminded] countries,” underscoring the Philippines’ increasingly diversified and “multi-aligned” foreign policy doctrine.

“Definitely we are not relying on any [single] partner. Of course, the United States is our [treaty] ally but they are not our only partner… our relationship with Japan has been stronger. We have a much stronger relationships with Australia, with Vietnam and also seeking to strengthen our ties with New Zealand and, of course, India.”

Follow Richard Javad Heydarian on X at @Richeydarian