TOKYO – The Philippines’ exploration of new diplomatic relationships with China need not come at the expense of maintaining ties with the United States or respect for the rule of law, according to a senior member of the Japanese think tank Canon Institute for Global Studies.
The impression that the Philippines will not honor its arbitration court victory over the South China Sea issue as it seeks to improve ties with China has been a cause for concern, said Ken Jimbo, who is also an associate professor at Keio University.
Japan, which is locked in its own territorial dispute with China, also has a strategic interest in the South China Sea.
Jimbo said the issue at stake is whether the Philippines would enter into negotiations with Beijing on the basis of its victory in arbitral tribunal victory to invalidate Beijing’s claim to nearly the whole of the South China Sea, or whether it would shelve the decision and strike another deal with China.
“It seems to be, for outside observers, the Philippines is not honoring or respecting the final result of the ruling even though the Philippines is a main player in this, which is something we really have a concern over,” Jimbo said in an interview with reporters.
“The bilateral negotiation is fine but that should be based on the July result,” he said.
The easing of tensions between the Philippines and China is a positive development in the short term, but in the longer term, the respect for rule of law must prevail, he said. There should also be a code of conduct between China and Southeast Asian Nations, which should be based on international law.
The arbitration ruling is one of the most important benchmarks, he said.
“If China thinks that the Philippines made a major concession over those terms, I think that would be a very bad choice for the future of the ASEAN-China relationship over what kind of maritime order should be placed in the future. And the Philippines has a huge stake in it,” he said.
Talks about the South China Sea must, at the very least, underscore the importance of the ruling, he said.
Jimbo also said there is puzzlement and confusion over Mr. Duterte’s foreign policy, following his declaration of a move away from the US and a pivot toward China.
Despite his statement, he said the Philippines would not cut diplomatic ties with the US.
It is fine if the Philippines wants to explore diplomatic potentials with China and Russia, said Jimbo.
“But we did not really think that we are in favor of exploring those new diplomatic relationship at the expense of the US-Philippine relationship and respect for the rule of law. When we talk about rule of law, that is accepting the final result of the arbitration ruling,” he said.
“So that this alliance relationship and also rule of law are something that the Japanese government are taking into account,” he added.
He also said he hoped Japan could be a “catalyst” to put the Philippine-US ties back on the “normal track.”
“We believe that the United States still provides the fundamental role of the security guarantee of the Philippines, and the United States has been the last resort to provide favorable balance of power in east Asia,” he said.