‘Manila More Pro-Active In Leveraging Its Position In The World Now’ | #us #Philippines #china

The Philippines is among the very few countries in the Indo-Pacific region that has stood up to the bullying tactics of the People’s Republic of China, the other being Japan. Both have defence pacts with the United States.

So when these two nations joined the US for a trilateral summit earlier this week, a rattled Beijing was quick to announce that it "firmly opposes the relevant countries manipulating bloc politics, and firmly opposes any behaviour that provokes or lays plans for opposition, and hurts other countries' strategic security and interests."

But is America’s ‘ironclad’ support, as President Joe Biden and his administration reiterated during the summit in Washington, the only thing that gives President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines the courage to push back against China?

“It is not just because of external support,” argues Don McLain Gill, a Philippines-based geopolitical analyst author and lecturer at the Department of International Studies De La Salle University, Manila.

“Since the 1990s, there have been significant discrepancies in Philippines foreign policy decisions,” which emboldened China over the years, he said. “Today, (under President Marcos), not only is our government addressing these issues pragmatically, but our allies and our partners have also realised the need to play a more pro-active role. And what President Marcos continues to emphasise on is that this should be the benchmark that we must continue to prioritise in the long term.”

Also, while the Philippines has only one treaty ally in the US, “we have various partners, both traditional and non-traditional,” he said. These include Japan, Australia and India. “The partnership with India continues to reach new heights particularly with the March 25-27 visit of (Indian External Affairs Minister) Dr S Jaishankar to Manila, which cemented the growing momentum behind the bilateral partnership.” According to a joint statement after the visit, “Substantive discussions were held on consolidating the ongoing momentum in bilateral defence ties through capacity building, joint exercises, information exchange and defence industrial collaboration.”

To get an insider’s perspective of why Manila feels confident enough to challenge China, what India’s support means to the Philippines, and the political, economic and social compulsions that prevent other countries in the region from taking such a stand, watch the full interview.

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[SamanthaGatez]

I am impressed at the ease this young chap speaking on very complex global issues. Your parents must be proud of you young man.. God bless you 🙏

[vchitnis]

Excellent set of questions and overall, a great interview. The first question about where Philippines is getting its confidence to confront China was an absolute banger!

Very few outside StratNewsGlobal are paying any attention to the budding India-Philippines relationship. Therefore, kudos for this great effort!

[pratikpaharia]

Excellent discussion to get a first hand view of Philippians’ take on their security issues.

[harshalgore]

Good discussion, but the sound was disappearing at some important moments in conversation. Dhanyavad… Jai Hind 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳

[SamirSeth]

StratNewsGlobal provides fantastic content. But the highly scripted, wooden way of asking questions, and the awkward pauses which all the anchors seem to follow can put anyone to sleep.Surely it is ok for anchors to react humanly to a the interviewers response instead of just moving to the next question in the list?

Interviewee: The WORLD will END in 10 days
SNG Interviewer: Oh. (mandatory 1 second pause). So what do you think will be the impact on India?

[rainieresguerra]

If Taiwan falls, China will gain a very huge forward base so close to the Philippines.
China will have an easy access to the Pacific theatre, increasing exponentially its reach and pushing back the US significantly.

[itchtravel]

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH (PHILIPPINES) GOES TO MOMMA (USA).

[itchtravel]

The "WEST PHILIPPINE SEA" is aan invetion of Ex President Pnoy Aquino (RIP) which no other nation recognised.
"The term "West Philippine Sea" has sometimes been incorrectly used to refer to the whole of the South China Sea.[12]". WIKIPEDIA.

[esperanzayin]

How to control the all over the world trading kalakal the best soulstion top the lahi at bigyan diin at boses ang kulay ng lahing pilipino because the old clan kaya nasasabi pumapasok at sinasabi ng political no because pumapasok lang ang politiko dahil sa mga trading para maiwan ang distinguish the opposite is Diligence committing tash or objective with focuse dedication being willing necessary para maging succesful huwag iiwan yong tinatawag dahil uso don lang pinaguusapan make consistence . Diligence is the sulosyon PRYERS NO WAR

[thomasrogers]

WHAT WE NEED IN THIS WORLD IS NOT MORE WARS AND HATE. WE NEED TO ABANDON THIS IDEA OF SUPERIORITY AND UNDERSTAND THAT IN 150 YEARS EVERY ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL BE DEAD. CAN WE FOCUS ON SOLVING PROBLEMS LIKE HUNGER POVERTY ELEMINATION TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT HOUSING HEALTH CARE. WHY ARE HUMANS SO SICK AMD DEPRAVED.?

[esperanzayin]

Ang pinag uusap about china sea and philippines is not alies not history not culture ang pinag uusapan family clan in trading in the old root who is the first because beejing ang alam nila old sila hindi nila alam ang manila mas nauna because of word manila maynilad na pinalitan ng maynila because of DAMS word DAMS words vase in ADAMS words root ng kalakal ng philippines