Defense pact between Manila and Ottawa potential catalyst for regional instability

In a move that risks further escalating tensions in the South China Sea, the Philippines and Canada signed a visiting forces agreement on Sunday. Such agreements provide a legal framework for visits by foreign troops for joint large-scale exercises in either country.

It is anticipated that the agreement between the Philippines and Canada will boost combat drills, joint military training, information-sharing and cooperation between the two countries, with China explicitly identified as their common target.

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr, after signing the agreement with his Canadian counterpart David McGuinty, claimed that the enhanced defense cooperation would be key to countering what he alleged to be China's "aggression" in the region.

Involving as many external countries as possible and making the South China Sea a theater for broader geopolitical rivalry are a key part of Manila's egregious scheme to advance its illegal territorial claims.

The Philippines signed such a defense pact with the United States in 1998, followed by a similar accord with Australia nine years later.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, after taking office in 2022, has abandoned the consensus previously reached with China to properly manage the two countries' maritime disputes in the South China Sea. Instead, the Marcos government has accelerated efforts to strengthen collaboration with external forces at the cost of regional peace and stability. The agreement with Canada was the third signed under his administration after similar ones with Japan and New Zealand.

It is China's belief that its maritime disputes with the Philippines should be solved through dialogue and consultation between the two countries, which is in line with their common interests as well as those of the region.

Thanks to the joint efforts by China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries as a whole, the South China Sea has in general maintained peace and stability, and remained safe and busy waters for navigation.

The latest move by the Philippines and Canada will inevitably exacerbate tensions. It is also likely to provoke military build-ups in the region, further complicating the already delicate geopolitical landscape and undermining regional countries' joint efforts to maintain peace and stability.

An increasing number of external forces are being drawn into the Philippines' game of provocations. Talks are ongoing between the Philippines and France and also Singapore for similar agreements. Efforts are underway to launch negotiations with some other countries, Teodoro and other Philippine officials said. As a result, the risks of miscalculation or accidental conflict are increasing markedly.

What Manila has done and what it is doing to intensify the militarization of the South China Sea only serves to prove that it is the real troublemaker in the waters and the saboteur of regional stability. The more the Marcos government tries to label China that way, the more firmly the label sticks to the Philippines.

Manila's approach runs counter to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, which encourages dialogue and mutual trust to prevent conflicts through a shared commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes. It also goes against the historical trend in the Asia-Pacific region of seeking peace, development and cooperation.

On its part, it is unwise for Canada to get involved in the Marcos government's tricks in the name of "maintaining a rules-based international order". Canada, which is not a South China Sea country, has no stake in the territorial disputes.

As such it is ridiculous that Canadian Ambassador to the Philippines David Hartman said that his country has "been vocal in confronting the provocative and unlawful actions" of China in the region's waters and "will continue to do so". Such baseless and irresponsible remarks, which only parrot Manila's discourse, don't serve Canada's interests. Not to mention the willingness the Mark Carney government of Canada has recently displayed to bring back Sino-Canadian ties to the right track.

Canada has used what Hartman said as an excuse to conduct joint patrols or participate in military drills with the United States and its allies, submissively assuming the role of a puppet in the US' "Indo-Pacific" strategy that aims to contain China. It is ill-advised for Ottawa to try and take that as a means of currying favor with Washington in exchange for the latter's softening of its trade policy in the Canada-US trade disputes.

Hopefully, the Canadian side will come to its senses at an early date and align with the Asia-Pacific's development goals. External countries should be wary of being dragged into deep and treacherous waters by the Marcos government, which has no regard for their ability to stay afloat. The recent wide protests in the Philippines opposing the Marcos government's domestic and foreign policies also speak volumes of the damages its one-sided pro-US stance has caused to the Philippines' interests.

So long as countries in the region uphold the spirit of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, that body of water can remain a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation.