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CLARK FREEPORT – Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has disagreed with China’s accusation that the United States has been trying to wreak havoc in the Southeast Asian region, following a visit to Manila by senior US defense officials.
“That is the opinion of the Chinese,” Lorenzana said. “The way I see it, they don’t want any foreign power to interfere in Southeast Asia,” he told reporters, speaking in Filipino, after the commissioning of six new Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters here.
The Philippines, Lorenzana said, was a long-time ally of the United States and both countries are bound to this alliance by the Mutual Defense Treaty.
Chinese Ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian said visits by senior security officials from the outgoing administration of US President Donald Trump to Southeast Asia “were not intended to promote regional peace and stability, but to create chaos. and confrontation in the region “.
Huang said Washington “has reneged on its longstanding commitment not to take sides and blatantly interfered in territorial disputes” and has sought to “drive a wedge between China and ASEAN countries.”
But Lorenzana said she didn’t see it that way. “That is your opinion,” he said. “We don’t see it that way,” he added. The Americans, Lorenzana said, “are here to maintain their relationship with the Philippines.”
Manila and Washington share concerns about China’s aggression in the South China Sea.
The United States regularly conducts freedom of navigation operations to challenge China’s claim of ownership over nearly the entire South China Sea, including Philippine territorial waters in the Western Philippine Sea.
Apart from the Philippines and China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims on the strategic waterway.
While Trump is his in his final days in office, three of his security officials have visited Southeast Asia, including Manila. Acting US Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller was in the Philippines earlier this week.
National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien and US Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett also made a layover in Manila in recent weeks. The three officials brought gifts in tow, with almost P3 billion in weapons and defense equipment.
With P33 billion in ships, aircraft, small arms and other military equipment donated to the Philippines since 2015, the Philippines is the largest recipient of US military aid in the Indo-Pacific region.
Lorenzana said she didn’t see anything unusual with the recent donations. “These are the teams that may already be in the works,” he said in Filipino. “They wanted to give it before the end of the Trump administration, so there is nothing unusual there,” he added.
“The security that we were given is whoever the president is, whoever the administration and whatever party is, their policy here in Asia remains the same,” Lorenzana said.
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