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The Chinese Embassy in Manila on Sunday warned the Philippines against opening up additional sites under its Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) with the US government, saying this will drag the country into “the Taiwan question” and further undermine stability in the region.
In a statement, the embassy questioned Washington’s continued interest and strengthening of its military alliance with Manila through their 2014 agreement, saying that “to bundle the Philippines into the chariots of geopolitical strife will seriously harm Philippine national interests and endanger regional peace and stability.”
The statement was issued in response to US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson’s interview with GMA Network on Friday, in which she said that new Edca sites would enhance local authorities’ ability to defend themselves and grow their economy.
Apart from maritime tensions over the South China Sea which Beijing claims as its exclusive waterway, the island of Taiwan, which has developed into a separate government over the decades, also faces the threat of being retaken by China after breaking away from the mainland in 1949 following its takeover by Mao Zedong’s communist forces.
According to the embassy, the United States “keeps upgrading” its military cooperation with the Philippines “to secure its hegemony and selfish geopolitical interests and out of the [its] Cold War mentality.”
“Whereas the US claims that such cooperation is intended to help the disaster relief efforts of the Philippines and some Americans even tout the Edca sites as driver of local economy, it is plain and simple that those moves are part of the US efforts to encircle and contain China through its military alliance with this country,” the embassy also said.
It also cited concerns raised by the governors of Cagayan and Isabela about having their provinces used as Edca sites, as well as by other groups about the proposed expansion of the defense agreement.
“Those visionary people all asked the soul-searching questions: If the new sites are located in Cagayan and Isabela, which are close to Taiwan, does the US really intend to help the Philippines in disaster relief with these Edca sites? And is it really in the national interest of the Philippines to get dragged by the US to interfere in the Taiwan question?”
Carlson, in the interview, disclosed a groundbreaking ceremony on March 20 for a $24-million airstrip extension and rehabilitation project at Basa Air Base in Pampanga province.
