U.S. naval drills in the South China Sea could “create trouble” with China, according to a top defense official in the Philippines, which is expected to benefit from the show of force.
“We are not part of their activities. They do it on their own. If it creates peace and stability, then it’s also good for us,” Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Wednesday.
A pair of aircraft carrier strike groups have conducted exercises in the South China Sea in recent weeks as part of a U.S. rebuff of China’s assertion of sovereignty over waterways claimed by the Philippines and other nations in the vicinity. Philippine officials seemed to welcome the tougher American stance in recent weeks, and the exercise showcases American treaty obligations to come to the defense of the island country in the event of a Chinese attack. But Lorenzana cast doubt on their value.
“It can also create trouble and instability, and we will be adversely affected, so it cuts both ways,” he told reporters.
That language seemed to reflect Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s condemnation of the naval drills in a separate meeting with Vietnam on Tuesday. “The U.S., for strategic reasons, has stirred up trouble all around and has been sending massive warships and planes to [the South China Sea] to show off its prowess,” the Chinese foreign minister was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
The relationship between the governments in Washington and Manila has been strained in recent years, in part due to human rights abuses carried out during Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs. Duterte’s stated interest in a “separation” from the United States in favor of China culminated in the February announcement that he would terminate an agreement that underpins U.S. military training exercises in the Philippines. The decision was taken over the apparent objections of Lorenzana and other officials and reversed in June amid the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
