The installation of anti-ship missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on Philippine-claimed islands in the West Philippine Sea should serve as a wake-up call for the Duterte administration to revisit its foreign policy, an independent think tank said.
In a statement, Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute president Dindo Manhit urged the Philippine government to explore other ways of dealing with the increasing volatile situation, following the “obvious” militarization of China over the disputed waters.
“The most common rationale cited—we are militarily not in a good position to wage war against Beijing—should not be license to kowtow to China’s every whim. After all, the threat of the use of force constitutes a violation of the United Nations Charter,” Manhit said.
Vietnam has unequivocally called on China to remove the missile installations while President Rodrigo Duterte on the other hand opted no to side with any parties to avoid being caught in the crossfire between superpowers.
“(This should) not he the only option,” Manhit said.
“The pivot to Beijing away from the country’s more traditional allies needs to be revisited while exhausting all available mechanisms for unilateral, if not global, cooperation,” he added.
Manhit said when the Duterte administration shelved any discussions on the tribunal’s ruling, the militarization continued, unchallenged.
“But our options are not limited to either let the militarization continue or risk going to war with China, but when it comes to foreign policy it’s important to approach the situation from a position of power, not weakness,” he said.
Geopolitical experts focused on the developing scenarios during the ADRI forum featuring a special paper authored by one of its trustees, Dr. Renato De Castro, titled: “Revival of the QUAD and the Emergence of the Indo-Pacific Region as the 21st Century Geopolitical Region”.
The study discussed the effects of the government’s “policy of appeasement” on the country’s strategic interests and the overall security of the Indo-pacific region and recommends the revival of the QUAD, an informal security association among the U.S., Japan, India, and Australia; the adoption of a long-proposed code of conduct in the South China Sea; and even working with the UN General Assembly toward a consolidation of its members to promote international law, specifically UNCLOS.
