PH gov’t not alarmed by US-China agreement

Following news that US and Chinese military officials have signed a dialogue mechanism, Malacañang said it is not alarmed by the fact that the two parties might hold joint exercises in the future.

“Hindi naman ho kami dapat mabahala doon (We shouldn’t be bothered by that),” Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said. “We have our own strategic interests. The US has their own strategic interests as well.”

“Will it better for us? We’d hope that whatever interests that they have will be also in sync with our interests,” he added.

Earlier in the week, China Daily reported that the new army dialogue mechanism was signed during Chinese Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Fan Changlong’s visit to Washington, DC.

The report said the agreement was “the first cooperation document to be signed by the two armies in recent years.” Also discussed were the mutual trust mechanisms on reporting major military operations and the code of conduct on military encounters in the air and at sea, which were signed last year.

The signing happened amid US officials warning China against its actions in the disputed areas of South China Sea.

Recently, US President Barack Obama warned China against disregarding international laws. He spoke against the country’s land reclamation efforts, some of which are within areas claimed by the Philippines.

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Lacierda said this was why the Philippine government was confident with its relations with the US.

“We have also known that the United States…their officials made mention and expressed concern over the South China Sea. So we know already the position taken by the United States and so we will just hope that everything will work for the better in respect of the South China Sea situation,” he said.